Those Who Wander are Quite Lost
by Pipkin in the Grass
Summary: When Team Minato gets lost on a mission in the Land of Earth, they have to adapt to this "Middle" Earth they get stuck in. And what does their strange ward have to do with it? Continued in Part II: The Two Teams. (Note: Undergoing a series of edits. Please forgive the inconsistencies.) Thanks for reading!
1. Chapter 1

It was dark in the tunnel. Too dark. It seemed to go down and the air held the foul smell of death. Uchiha Obito sneezed and came to a halt as the tunnel ended abruptly, opening to a large chasm. He looked around, than turned to his teammate.

"Where the hell are we?" he all but shouted.

Hatake Kakashi glared at him. "How should I know? Ask Hoshi, he seems to know"

The two Konoha shinobi turned to their third teammate, looking for answers.

The dark-haired boy stood near the edge of the chasm, looking rather ill. It wasn't for the first time the two noticed a faint glow around Hoshi, but it seemed to have dimmed.

"Moria," he whispered.

"Huh?" Obito looked befuddled

"The name of the place we are at is called...'Moria', " said Kakashi as mockingly as he dared.

"I haven't heard of places like this in the Land of Earth," said a pleasant masculine voice.

The three boys jumped, turning to see a yellow-haired man standing at the mouth of the tunnel.

"Sensei," Obito breathed, looking relieved. Kakashi simply rolled his eyes

"Is Hoshi okay?" another voice came from the tunnel. This time it was female, and laced with worry.

"Rin!" Obito cried out with joy. The loud noise broke Hoshi out of his stupor. The pale child whipped around and tore to the tunnel.

Their teacher grabbed Hoshi. "Whoa, slow down!" he said good-naturedly.

Hoshi shook his head. "You understand not. 'Tis dangerous here, we have to go back!"

The four shinobi looked at their companion, concerned. Hoshi's gray eyes were wide with terror, and he was shaking with fear. When team 7 had first met the strange boy, he was quite skittish and terrified of the yokai masks. That had changed to a rather unflappable shinobi who secretly feared the yokai masks. But now...

Obito was just about to ask what was so terrible when the group heard a screech, coming from within the tunnel.

Hoshi shot out of his teacher's grasp up the walls of stone. Rin looked incredibly unnerved and followed Hoshi. Obito took one look into the tunnel, squinted, and quickly followed his friend. Kakashi noted his they comrades' pale faces bemusedly. He peered down the tunnel, unruffled. When he turned back toward the rest of his team, he discovered that they too were clinging to the wall.

"Come along Kakashi!" commanded his bright-haired superior. The Hatake sighed and joined his team away from the tunnel.

~•~•~•~

The network of caverns was enormous and dark. Thankfully, Rin had brought a couple flashlights, so the shinobi could see. Hoshi lead the around, telling his team about the place.

"These are the Mines of Moria, a former dwarf kingdom," he paused, pressing his ear against the wall. "They're all dead now," he added while bounding down to a path.

"Dead?" asked Kakashi, "What killed them?"

Hoshi looked both ways before climbing over the edge.

"Goblins," was his simple reply.

"What are ...Gob-rins?" asked Obito, trying to pronounce the foreign word.

"Cave Oni," Hoshi began sniffing the air and leading Team Minato down a smaller tunnel.

Obito and Rin exchanged looks while Kakashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Where are you leading us, Hoshi-kun?" asked Sensei.

"There is a path leading to a path out," he answered. "I just have to find it first."

~•~•~•~

_Thud_

_Thud_

_Thud_

_*CRASH*_

_Thud_

_*SPASH*_

Eldarion, or Hoshi as he was known among shinobi, visibly brightened at the sound. He led the group across an underground lake and scanned the ceiling.

"Found you," he whispered triumphantly. Team Minato simply gave him blank looks.

"We need to reach that hole," he said, pointing to the slightly darker spot in the general darkness.

Sensei nodded. "Is it large enough?" he asked.

"Methinks," responded Eldarion. He was on edge. The boy wanted to get home, but not like this. And if he was correct, it wasn't even the right age.

"Curse the powers that be," he uttered darkly. Luckily, the ceiling wasn't very high and he could easily reach the entrance to the well.

"Obito, you go with Hoshi. Rin and I will scout out an alternative route while Kakashi stays here." commanded the Jōnin.

Eldarion nodded and Obito flashed a grin, before the two climbed into the well-shaft.

~•~•~•~

_"Just how long is this shaft?"_ thought the Uchiha. He was pleased that he put on his goggles before he climbed in after his good friend. All sorts of things were raining down on his face, none of them pleasant. Suddenly Hoshi yanked him up beside him. Obito nearly cried when he saw light, but Hoshi looked up anxiously. Then he heard the noises. Screams, shouts, gargles and roars all assaulted his ears.

"What on earth?" he whispered, horrified.

"I had feared this," muttered Hoshi. He turned to face Obito. "Are you prepared to fight if the need be?"

Obito gave him a scared look. "Can't we just stay here?" he pleaded.

Hoshi frowned at him, thinking. It was then Obito's ears picked up the faint sound of footsteps in the well. The sound of panicked gasps floated up as well. Obito looked down to see a wild-eyed Kakashi tearing up the well at a break-neck pace. He was covered in what appeared to be ink, and held a kunai in his hand.

"Hoshi..." Obito cautiously turned to his teammate.

The grey-eyed boy looked down, confused.

"What is wrong?" he called down to the climbing boy.

"It's after me! They're crawling behind me! We have to get out! They're coming!" Kakashi cried back.

Obito looked at his teammate. Kakashi was getting closer and showing no sign of slowing down. Hoshi seemed to have realized this, as he looked alarmed.

"Obito, only attack the cave oni, alright?" he whispered harshly.

The Uchiha turned toward Hoshi incredulously. "Oni don't exist," he hissed back.

Before his friend could retort, Kakashi slammed into them, forcing them back and out of the well.


	2. Chapter 2

Gandalf felt that battle was getting worse by the minute. Most of the goblins were dead, true. But the Cave Troll was still a threat. After all, the horrid creature had just skewered Frodo with a spear. The poor hobbit would be lucky to still be alive. Merry and Pippin had just launched themselves onto the troll's back, but were having trouble harming it. Gandalf would have rushed to help, but he was preoccupied by...no orcs.

"This is strangely convenient," he thought. But he shook away the wary feeling. There was a Cave troll to kill.

~•~•~•~

Boromir felt his jaw nearly drop as three children vaulted out of the well. One with short black hair landed at the feet of a goblin. The Gondorian was about to run over to the boy when the goblin let out a cry of pain. Boromir turned to see a child with silver hair ("How is that possible?" he wondered.) stab the foul creature. The black-haired child stood up faster than Boromir thought possible and slashed the goblin's throat. The Steward's son was then forced to divert his attention back to the goblins around him. Fortunately, there weren't many left. When the troll fell, The Fellowship and the three children were the only people left in the room. He was relieved to see that Frodo was alive, but there was a matter to attend to.

"Gandalf," Boromir whispered to the wizard. "We have strangers in our midst."

The Istari looked around until his eyes fell upon the youthful trio. They were three boys on the cusp of adolescence. The first sported short, spiky black hair and was dressed in blue, and wore a strange see-through mask. The second boy had short, spiky, silver hair and covered his lower face with a cloth mask. Both boys had dark eyes. The third child was notably taller than the other two. He had dark, wavy hair that brushed his shoulders and wore a strange red armguards. This boy had blue-grey eyes and a faint spray of freckles across his face.

Gandalf appeared to be surprised, as did the rest of the Fellowship. Boromir came to the conclusion that he was the only one to notice their arrival.

"This is no place for children," Gandalf said, walking toward them. "How did you get here?"

The two he saw earlier had blank looks on their faces, as if they didn't understand Gandalf. The third boy responded. "We had gotten lost, Gandalf the Grey."

The boy with the short black hair muttered something unintelligible, causing the silver-haired one to snicker and the third boy to glare.

"We came in a group of five, but have split up. Do you think that we could travel with your group?"

Boromir narrowed his eyes. It was too suspicious. Absolutely nobody would be foolish enough to travel through the mines, even if they found a way in. But Gandalf did not appear to be troubled.

"You know my name dear child, it would only be fair for you to tell me yours," he then smiled

The child looked surprised. "Well than! I am called Hoshi, my companions are Obito," he gestured to the black-haired boy. "and Kakashi," he pointed to the masked boy.

Gandalf nodded. "Come!" he said to the Fellowship. "We have lingered here for far too long,"

~•~•~•~

Kakashi felt miserable. He had deliberately disobeyed orders to stay put. But there were these yokai and oni that were trying to kill him, so he had to go. He turned to his teammates. Obito had a look of horror on his face and Hoshi was slightly shaking. Kakashi went to pocket his kunai, but his hands were shaking too much to do it.

"Kakashi, where are Rin and Sensei?" asked Hoshi softly.

The reminder that he had failed in his task nearly brought him to tears.

"I don't know," he whispered.

"I-I'm sure that they're fine," stuttered Obito, flashing a watery smile.

Kakashi looked up to see the strange group of fighters turn toward them. All were male (that was what he assumed at least) and carried strange weapons. Their appearances were odd and greatly varied from person to person. A man with shoulder-length blonde hair approached an elderly man with a staff. The old man approached their group and spoke to them.

The words that came from the incredibly ancient man's mouth were long and guttural. But they were strangely familiar. Kakashi turned to Obito, both of them trying to figure out where they had heard it before...

When Hoshi cautiously responded in the same language, their little mystery was solved.

Obito turned toward Kakashi and mumbled:

"He's probably telling the geezer that we're lost."

Kakashi couldn't help but snicker. That was Hoshi's favorite excuse. The oddball used it in every situation. He seemed to have adapted it from Obito's tardiness excuses.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard his name. He frowned when he realized that Hoshi had introduced them.

"The fool," he thought. "He could have at least given us pseudonyms."

Kakashi looked around. The group was leaving the room. He shuddered when he looked at the corpses. He was angry that he had even felt miserable and fearful.

Hoshi had stood up and turned to his friends.

"We should follow them. They know the way out."

Obito looked distressed. "But what about Rin and Sensei?"

Hoshi frowned. He then made a shadow clone and sent it off.

"That should be enough. Let's go, 'tis too dangerous here."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN****:**

**I would like to thank Purple Pallbearer and Yay for reviewing and to child-of-paradox-and-chaos for favoriting. Your support means quite a bit to me.**

**To answer your question Yay, Hoshi is Eldarion, a briefly mentioned character in Return of the King Appendixes. Despite his status as a canon character, we don't know much about him. I have a backstory on how he ended up with Team Minato, which will be present in later chapters.**

**Also, the vast majority of my Lord of the Rings knowledge is from the movie. I did read Fellowship of the Ring in middle school, but never got past that. So yes, I am following the movie plot line. It is a lot easier to follow, in my humble opinion**.

Hoshi, Obito and Kakashi ran toward the fleeing Fellowship, keeping close the group. There was no time to admire the ruined dwarf city, due to the pesky goblins. The trio gagged when the stench of the goblins hit their noses.

"I am forever grateful that I am an Uchiha and not an Inuzuka," Obito managed to choke out. Kakashi nodded in agreement, looking around. The Cave oni were coming out of the floors and down the columns. The masked shinobi was mildly impressed by the creatures' climbing skills. He idly wondered how they were able to cling to the smooth surfaces without chakra. Looking around, the Hatake noted that the fiends were beginning to surround them.

Hoshi was also scanning the ceilings when his eyes caught a glimpse of yellow. He allowed a relieved smile to cross his face. Obito gave a joyful shout, for he, too had seen the flash of color

"Sensei! Rin! Down here!" he yelled while waving his arms. Kakashi nearly groaned, but he was too relieved to see that Rin and Sensei were both alive. He hoped that neither was greatly injured, so that they could get out of this strange place and return to their mission.

~•~•~•~

Aragorn was surprised that Gandalf had allowed the three boys to travel with them. They dressed strangely, and only one of them seemed to understand Westron. They could easily be Sauron's spies, for they acted quite strangely. But if Gandalf trusted them, he did as well. Aragorn frowned slightly. Hoshi, the Westron speaker, had mentioned two other companions in the boys' group. The ranger hoped that the boys didn't expect the Fellowship to help find them.

In no time at all, the Fellowship plus three were surrounded by goblins. Everyone was tense, waiting for the filthy things to strike when a shout came out of the black-haired boy. Aragorn turned and followed the child's gaze, worried. When he saw it he nearly dropped his sword.

There was a man with bright yellow hair running across the ceiling. The man was carrying a girl with short brown hair on his back.

"Sweet Eru," Aragorn heard himself swear. Never in his long life had he seen something quite like this. He looked at the boys. None of them looked phased. They simply kept their eyes on the goblins, who looked just as surprised as the Fellowship.

"Master Gandalf," Aragorn heard Hoshi say.'' The man with the yellow hair is Minato-sensei, our teacher. The girl he is carrying is Rin, our teammate."

Gandalf had managed to tear his eyes away from scene. "I presume that they are your missing companions?" he asked.

Hoshi nodded in affirmation. Aragorn idly wondered if this Minato person was an Istari. The Dúnedain roughly shook his head. Here he was, standing in the midst of hundreds of goblin and instead of paying attention, he was daydreaming! Aragorn wondered why he hadn't been skewered yet. But the goblins were frozen, their heads turned toward the opposite end of the cavern.

"Gandalf..." Aragorn looked down to see Hoshi standing beside him, eyes glued to the entrance of the cavern. It was lit up, as if a giant fire was just beyond the threshold. And then he heard it.

_**Thump**__~skeersh_

_**Thump**__~skeersh_

_**Thump**__~skeersh_

It sounded as if large rocks were smashing against the ground. The floor shook. The goblins had scattered, retreating to their holes. Something was coming, something terrible.

"Gandalf!" Aragorn jumped as Hoshi just about crushed his rib cage and gently pried the terrified child off him. The boy's teacher and teammate had somehow gotten to the floor. Their hair and clothes were singed and their faces were covered in soot and ash. Both had a panicked look in their eyes.

Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship turned to Gandalf. The Grey Wizard had a pained look on his face when he spoke.

"A Balrog of Morgoth," he declared. "This foe is beyond any of you. Run!"


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:**

**I would like to thank TechnoFire, HarbingerLady and anyone reading this story for their support. I apologize for the grammar and spelling errors. Each chapter will be cleaned up whenever I spot a problem. Please Review, I need feedback! Thank you!**

Minato was not sure when he realized that he and his team were not in the Land of Earth. Was it when he and Rin saw skeletons of people too short to be human, but clearly so? It could have been when they were attacked by hideous, smelly fiends with strange weapons and armor. That was a horrible moment when he and Rin realized that Hoshi was not kidding about the Cave Oni. They had been chased further and further down the tunnels until they came to a large cavern. Within the cavern was the most terrible creature he had ever set eyes upon. It was enormous, larger than Gamabunta by far. It looked like a volcano come to life, with chakra to rival all nine _bijuu_. The most terrible thing about it was the fact it was looking right at them. Minato had not been nicknamed the Yellow Flash for nothing. He grabbed for Rin and took off.

~•~•~•~

When Rin had seen the fire demon, she did not hesitate to jump on Minato-Sensei's back. She was glad that Sensei was fast, because seconds after they had left their spot, a fiery whip cracked through the air. The flaming weapon just missed her back, but singed both her clothes and hair. The thing moved surprisingly fast, cutting the two off from the exit. Minato-Sensei was looking around for another exit. Fortunately Rin found one. Unfortunately, it was near the thing's head.

"Sensei, look near its head," she shouted over the noise of the fiery creature's movements.

Minato-Sensei looked up, and suddenly jumped onto its knee. Rin was so shocked that she forgot to scream as her teacher ran up the thing. The heat radiating from its body was so intense that parts of her clothes caught fire. Finally, Minato-Sensei jumped off its head and into the tunnel.

~•~•~•~

The Yellow Flash was a little annoyed that the thing decided to follow them. But the annoyance turned into fear when he realized that he couldn't shake it off his tail. He had use _Hiraishin_ multiple times, but the creature was always one step ahead of him or directly behind him. Minato remembered that he had put a _Hiraishin_ seal on Hoshi the Stranger for security reasons. But he was reluctant to use it because it might lead the thing to Hoshi and Obito. He groaned when he remembered that Kakashi was standing guard at the underground lake. Minato realized that he had little choice but to hope that Kakashi was somehow with the others, for the odds of returning to that lake were rather slim. He was snapped out of his reverie when a giant fiery foot slammed down in front of him.

_"That's it!"_ he screamed mentally. Without another word, he teleported.

~•~•~•~

Rin was surprised when they landed on the ceiling. Minato-Sensei looked confused. Looking around, she saw a strange and motley group being surrounded by the Cave Oni. That was when Rin heard a familiar voice...

"Sensei! Rin! Down here!" shouted the enthusiastic Uchiha.

Rin couldn't help but smile along with Minato-Sensei at Obito's antics. But then Sensei sniffed the air.

"It's coming here, Rin" he stated as he ran along the ceiling. While Minato-Sensei looked calm, the medic could tell that he was actually terrified. This was one enemy that he hadn't been able to defeat or outrun. Rin hoped that there was someone in that group that knew how to fight the creature.

When they landed, Rin noticed that: a) The Cave Oni were gone, b) Kakashi was there and c) She was the only girl there. All the strangers were dressed oddly, and spoke a guttural language. What was almost stranger was that Hoshi understood and spoke to them. She then recalled that she had seen him in a set of clothes not unlike the ones the man standing next to him was wearing. When the unspeakably ancient man spoke, Hoshi translated.

"That," he gulped. "is a Balrog,"

_"A what now?"_ Rin thought.

"I suggest we run," Hoshi whimpered before running after the group of strangers.

~•~•~•~

Minato was slightly peeved by Hoshi's cowardice, but now was not the time to fix that. Team Minato followed Hoshi as they reached a crumbling stairway.

"We have to cross that bridge over there!" Hoshi said, pointing to a bridge parallel to where they were standing. The strangers were having trouble crossing a gap on the steep stairway. It wasn't helping that the fiends were shooting arrows at them.

"Obito, Kakashi," Minato called his students. The two snapped to attention.

"Take out the oni on both sides," he commanded. The two nodded. Obito took the side they were standing on while Kakashi vaulted over the group to the other side. He turned to his other two students.

"Stick with the strangers," he commanded. The other two nodded, before joining the tall, dark-haired man and the impossibly short person on the steps.

Minato judged the distance between the bridge and his current position.

_"It will probably take about three jumps to get over there,"_ he thought. But as he prepared to throw his kunai, the stairway began to crumble. He immediately threw it to the opposite wall and _Hiraishin-_ed over. As soon as he landed he threw his other kunai to the bridge. Luckily it hit, and then he teleported over.

Obito and Kakashi were done with their job. Kakashi hopped over to a stairway leading up while Obito ran to the bridge and crossed over. Minato, hanging on the underside of the bridge, waited for Obito to pass over him before he followed the two. When he had a good look at them, he was a bit surprised.

"You both look as if ink flasks have been spilled on you!" Minato exclaimed.

Obito frowned. "The Cave Oni have strange blood." he remarked.

Kakashi motioned for the other two to move up the stairs. The strangers were crossing the bridge, and just in time. The terrible thing had caught up, and the old man was guarding the bridge from it. The strangers had stopped moving up the stairs to look at the man dressed in gray. Hoshi looked distressed. He was going from person to person, trying to get them to move. But they seemed frozen in fear. Minato didn't blame them. It was obvious that the old man was going to die because of the terrible thing. It was clear that he was the leader of the group, and everyone admired him. The old man was shouting at the thing in the strange language. It was obviously an intimidating command, but all the thing did was brandish his whip. Than the man gave a loud, powerful command. Slamming a sword and staff against the bridge, it emitted a bright light. For a second, Minato thought that nothing had happen. But when the terrible thing took a step forward, the bridge broke. The terrible thing fell down into the abyss below. Minato noted that the terrible thing had wings, but clearly didn't know how to use them. He also looked at the man with respect. He had defeated the terrible thing, and had done it to buy time for his companions. Granted, they weren't moving but that was beside the point. But as he turned away from the edge, the whip flicked out and caught the grey man's ankle. The old man was dragged to the edge; manage to tell them something before being pulled in along with the terrible thing. It was only then that the strangers began moving. He could hear that someone was upset, but he didn't check to see who. Minato gathered up his team before they went out of the caves. He needed to have a talk with Hoshi.


	5. Chapter 5

AN:

I would like to thank WolfDemon1000 for reviewing, Shinigami-Chan17 and xJig of Deathx for favoriting and everyone else for all the support. Let me know if something is off.

Also, I fudged the timeline. I understand that incorrect dating is a pet peeve. However, I do not have a date of birth for Eldarion. I guessed that he was born near the beginning of the Fourth Age. Please don't kill me.

Legolas was stunned when he had seen the two boys take to the walls like their teacher. The elf was not given much time to ponder on it, due to the danger. Now that they were more or less out of danger, questions could be asked. But who was going to ask them? If Mithrandir was still with them, there was no question that he would do it.

_"Ai, poor Mithrandir,"_ thought Legolas. He looked around. It seemed that the entire Fellowship was affected by the Istari's death. It seemed to have hit Frodo the hardest. The poor hobbit looked ill. He would have also joined Mithrandir in the abyss if not for Boromir's hold on him. Legolas sighed. He then heard Aragorn telling the Fellowship to get moving. Boromir did not seem to be pleased by the idea.

"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" the man cried, gesturing toward the sorrowful hobbits.

Aragorn frowned. "We have to get out of the area. By nightfall this place will be swarming with goblins," he pointed out.

"What about them?" All heads turned to look at Sam. The hobbit was looking at the group of strangers. They were standing by the mouth of the cave. The four others seemed to have ganged up on the one called Hoshi, who seemed to be telling a story. The listeners looked angry and confused. Many times they heard shouting and looks shot in their direction. The language they spoke in was rather clipped and somewhat harsh. Finally, their teacher Minato said something which caused Hoshi to give a relieved smile. The tall child turned toward the Fellowship.

"Gandalf told us that we were permitted to travel with you. I do hope that the invitation still stands," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Aragorn looked suspiciously at the five. Legolas took the opportunity to speak.

"You may do so, but only after we know where you came from, and your purpose here," he said. The boy frowned

"You ask for much!" exclaimed Hoshi. "We do not even know your names! Give us them, and the deal is set."

Legolas was about to reply when Aragorn interjected.

"The information can be exchanged at a later time. Our priority right now is to get as far away from this place as possible. We shall seal our pact when we stop later, agreed?"

Hoshi nodded and turned back to his group. Then the Fellowship gathered themselves to march on to the golden wood.

|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|

As soon as Team 7 was outside, Eldarion was pulled aside. His confusion as to the topic of discussion was soon banished by Obito.

"Where the hell are we?" he just about roared in the boy's pale face.

Eldarion was not sure on how to present the information. He decided to do so in a straight-forward manner.

"Middle Earth, more specifically, just outside the Mines of Moria," he answered.

Minato-sensei looked puzzled.

"How did we get from the Land of Earth to these Mines of Moria?" he asked.

Eldarion gave a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I know not," he whispered. "'Tis but a mystery to me."

"You're a mystery," grumbled Kakashi. Eldarion looked at the masked shinobi. Kakashi looked angry, and for the life of him, Eldarion couldn't figure out why.

The Hatake was kind enough to give him a response.

"We know nothing about you. It was stupid to trust a stranger in the first place. We took you in, taught you our ways, and what do you do? You send us to a dimension filled with _Oni_ to try and kill us!" Kakashi was just about screaming by the end of his rant.

Obito bristled. "Don't you dare talk to my foster brother like that! He has been nothing but willing to tell us about himself. Ever since we met him he has been nothing but trustworthy and loyal to Konohagakure!" he countered.

"Oh really?" Kakashi said coolly. "Than what is his true name?"

Obito faltered a bit, but then responded as fiercely as before.

"It's Er-I mean-Erll-dar~_lee_-I mean, AARRRGGH!" he stamped his foot in frustration.

Kakashi looked a bit put out as Obito had passed the test. Rin giggled a bit, having found Obito's pronunciation to be funny. But Minato-sensei still looked stern and anxious.

"I assume this is your homeland, Hoshi-kun?" he asked.

"More like home world," replied Eldarion. "I was born further south in a place call Minas Tirith."

"Do you know anyone who can help us get back home?" inquired Minato-sensei.

Eldarion winced. Here comes the bad news.

"We have arrived approximately 8 years before my birth," he said.

Team Minato was silent for a bit. Then Rin spoke.

"That could be a problem," she said softly.

Eldarion nodded. "You see the tall man with the dark hair?" he asked

The four nodded.

"He is my father," Eldarion whispered.

"Oooh," Obito grinned. Eldarion gave his dear friend and foster brother a glare. Obito and his family had taken in Eldarion when Team Minato had stumbled across him on a mission in the Land of Wind. It was regarded as a historical moment when the Uchiha clan accepted Hoshi as part of the clan. Obito took advantage of the adoption by teasing him like any brother would. Normally, Eldarion was fine with it. But Obito was insinuating revealing his identity, and he could not have that happen.

Kakashi seemed to have read his mind.

"Relax Hoshi, they can't understand us," he stated.

"That will be a problem if we are to travel with them," Minato-sensei said, deep in thought, tapping his chin. Then, he seemed to have an idea.

"Hoshi, make arrangements to travel with them. I believe that I can make a seal that could translate for us. In the meantime, I want you to tell us everything you can about this current period of time."

Eldarion nodded, before turning around to discuss the travel arrangements. When he returned to Team Minato, he gave them the conditions.

"We are to get their names in exchange for telling them where we come from and our purpose here."

Minato-sensei nodded. "Let them know that even if they can't see us, we will be nearby," he threw his special kunai in the ground by the cave, as if to punctuate the remark.

Eldarion grinned. He had always wanted to show Obito, Rin, Kakashi and Minato-sensei his home. This would be the perfect way to do so.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN****: **

**Thank you Frostius for reviewing! Sheesh, never in my life have I been **_**excited**_** to see what come next, in my own writing! I apologize for all errors and inconsistencies in the text. I might have to warn you about the minuscule AU in my Narutoverse, but it won't be featured until later on. *Please don't kill me***

_Elvish_

Aragorn did not trust the group of strangers. When he had the Fellowship walk off in different directions to leave tracks to confuse the orcs and goblins, only Hoshi participated. They didn't seem to care if the orcs found their trail and were tracking them right this minute. Their leader, Minato, was often off somewhere else, writing on some sheaf of paper. The one with the silver hair, Kakashi, often stuck close to him. Obito, the child dressed in a vibrant shade of blue, walked near the hobbits. He seemed to be curious of the Halflings, as he tried to ask them questions.

"What...you..are?" he asked Pippin. The poor hobbit looked confused. Gimli translated the stranger's speech.

"He asked what are you, laddie," said the dwarf. Obito grinned and looked at Pippin expectantly.

"I am a hobbit," he said with a note of pride in his voice.

"Ho-bi-to?" Obito attempted. Pippin looked a bit put out.

"No! It's Hobbit! Say it with me; Hoh-bit."

"Hoibitu?" Obito tried again.

Pippin gave up. Merry was trying to suppress a grin along with Sam. Even Frodo, gloom itself, looked amused. The boy gave an exaggerated scowl and stomped over to the girl, Rin. She was giggling and didn't appear to be sympathetic to Obito's plight.

When the Fellowship plus five arrived at the edge of Lothlórien, Aragorn called for a stop.

The ranger turned to Hoshi. "We had made a deal with you. Before you travel any further with us, you must fulfill your part of the bargain."

Hoshi frowned at him. "And what of your part, Fellowship? A name is not too much to ask. Each one shall speak their name, and speak it truly! We will not accept epitaphs, Strider the Dúnedain!"

The pale boy's knowledge of his heritage and ranger name shocked him. But he did his best not to let it show.

"Very well then," he acquiesced. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn."

"I am Legolas Thandruilion."

"I am Gimli, son of Gloin."

"I am Boromir, son of Denethor."

"I am Frodo Baggins"

"I am Samwise Gamgee. I am often called Sam."

"I am Meriadoc Brandybuck. My friends call me Merry."

"And I am Peregrin Took. My friends call me Pippin."

A moment of silence passed before a voice spoke.

"Your names, hard to say. But we try."

It was most curious that the teacher Minato was suddenly able to speak and understand Westron. Aragorn looked him over suspiciously, noticing that there were strange lines on his ears and tongue.

"Our part of deal, we tell now." he said. The yellow-haired looked to Hoshi, as if asking him how he sounded.

"I will do my best to tell our tale, for we are quite unsure of it ourselves." Hoshi said after making eye contact with his teacher.

"The short of it is that our purpose here is to return home, and that is in another world, I'm afraid."

Aragorn couldn't believe his ears. These people claimed to be from another world! The claim was so outrageous that none of Sauron or Saurman's spies would ever think to use it.

"Now wait just a minute!" Boromir snapped out of the shock first. "If you are from another world, than how do you know Westron?"

Hoshi rubbed his head, looking rather sheepish. "I am from another era of Arda. My parents went on a trip to Harad for business. My I went with them, for I was old enough and, according to others, "needed to have an eye kept upon me". Not that it did any good. On our way to our destiation, we stopped at a town. There was an oasis outside the town and we were warned not to visit the oasis at night."

"I am guessing you did so and that is how you ended up in another world?" asked Legolas.

The pale boy nodded. "Minato-sensei found me and the rest is history,"

"I am guessing that your arrival in the mines was something along that vein." said Aragorn.

"Yes," replied Hoshi, rubbing his ears. "All we did was run down a tunnel. If we went back up it at a later date, we could go back home."

Minato's face suddenly became stony. He turned to Gimli. "You dwarf, yes? How long mines bee danger?" he asked.

Gimli responded sadly. "They have been so for quite a time. Anyway, it is a maze there. Unless you know your way underground, you will be hopelessly lost."

The yellow-haired man deflated, miserable. The students seemed to know what was so terrible, while Hoshi looked sick.

"Oh dear," he whispered.

"Is something wrong?" asked Legolas.

" 'Tis nothing that would be easily understood," he responded apologetically.

Aragorn sighed. It was like pulling teeth, trying to get information from these strangers.

"Let us get going," he sighed.

~•~•~•~

Rin inhaled deeply. The air here was fresh and sweet. Hoshi had always spoken highly of the forests of his home world. The trees were tall and beautiful. The colors were a lot lighter than the forests of Konoha, but the trees weren't as stout. But they were sturdy, and responded to tree-hopping well.

"Who lives in these woods?" she asked Hoshi. The pale child literally brightened.

"Elves, both of the Sindarin and Silvan verity," he said cheerfully.

Rin was puzzled. "Okay, but what are elves?"

"Elves are creatures of the light. They are tall and fair, and have pointed ears,"

"Like yours?" asked Rin.

Hoshi nodded. "Elves are immortal, that is, they live very long lives. But they can die if they are killed in battle or lose the will to live."

"Sounds like they kind of people Orochimaru-sama would like to research," said Sensei as he jumped past. Obito then shot past them, with Kakashi hot on his heels.

Hoshi frowned before yelling: "Don't get too far ahead! We have to stick close to the Fellowship!"

Rin smiled as Obito flipped the bird back at his foster brother. Kakashi then took the opportunity to pass Obito. The Uchiha jumped sideways, slamming into his teammate. Predictably, they fell down to the forest floor. They landed just in front of Gimli and Frodo, scaring the day lights out of them. Obito was cackling, having landed on top of Kakashi. The masked boy was not amused.

"Ger'ff!" he yelled, his demand muffled by the Uchiha. When Obito didn't budge, Kakashi shoved the boy off him.

"You are so immature, I swear," he growled before jumping into the trees.

Rin watched as Gimli helped Obito up. Obito gave the dwarf a smile and a bow of thanks before jumping into the trees.

"Rin, Obito, come here," Sensei was calling them over to his side. The kunoichi jumped over to the tree he was standing on. Minato-sensei was holding a calligraphy brush and what appeared to be ink in a flask.

"I have figured out a seal that will translate for us. Fortunately, Lady Akira is very generous with her techniques, so thank here when we return home," he explained.

Rin frowned a bit. Lady Akira was a foreign kunoichi who lived in Konoha that specialized in sound and language. It was well-known that she rarely gave out true information for free. Rin wondered what Sensei had sacrificed in order to gain such precious knowledge.

"You'll go first Rin. Just hold still,"

Rin remained perfectly still as Minato-sensei painted the seal on her ears.

"Now open your mouth and stick out your tongue," he commanded when he finished with her ears.

Rin did as she was told. She nearly gagged and bit off her sensei's fingers when the seal was painted on. The ink was nasty and bitter, tasting more like blood than ink.

"Good! Now hold your tongue in place for a bit, I'll tell you when to close your mouth. Just run chakra into your ears to activate and you'll be all set!"

Rin could already feel her tongue drying up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sensei attempt to subdue Obito in order to get the seals on. In the other corner, she saw Kakashi standing nearby. His hand were covering his lower face as his tongue stuck out, because he couldn't wear his mask when his tongue had to stick out. She heard the sound of laughter coming from above her. She looked up to see Hoshi clinging onto the tree for support, braying like a donkey with hysterics.

Minato frowned, having finished with Obito's seals.

"Now Hoshi, be nice."

"Okay, *snort* sorry, _teeheeHAhaHAhaHaha_!" Hoshi jumped ahead to catch up with the Fellowship, who had just passed below them.

"Kakashi, Rin, you can put your tongues back in now," he said cheerfully

Rin was delighted to place her dry tongue back in her mouth. She dug through her backpack to find her water bottle. She drank some water before asking Minato-sensei a question.

"Sensei," she asked. "Would I have to constantly put chakra into the seal on my ears in order for it to work?"

Minato-sensei looked delighted. "Ah, the brilliance of this seal is that you only need to channel chakra through it once! I suggest you do so now. Obito, you are done now!" he called back to the Uchiha.

Rin jumped ahead to join Hoshi and Kakashi, pumping chakra into her ears. She felt the _fūnjustu_ start to work, as she picked up Gimli's conversation with one of the hobbits.

"...here's one dwarf she'll never ensnare. I've got eyes of a hawk and ears of a fox!" he boasted.

Hoshi rolled his eyes. "Lady Galadriel ensnares everyone." he muttered. Suddenly his eyes widened.

"Crumbs!" he swore. "If we are to pass through this wood, we have to meet Lady Galadriel. And when we meet with her, she looks into your mind, and...crumbs, **crumbs, **CRUMBS**!**"

Rin was amused by Hoshi's rantings until she saw that the Fellowship had been surrounded by a group of people who looked like blonde Hyuugas. She assumed that they were the elves.

"Hoshi!" she nudged him. The boy looked down and gave an evil grin. Rin saw that the rest of her team were poised for action. Hoshi jumped to a tree branch above the one of the blondes. He then slowly lowered himself behind what Rin presumed to be the leader.

_"Well met, marchwarden,"_ he said in a pretty, ethereal language. The...elf whirled around so fast that Hoshi nearly collided head with him. Hoshi manage to pull himself out of harm's way just in time. The shinobi jumped down from the branch onto the ground. Gimli was chackling at the elf, applauding Hoshi's approach.

"And just who are you?" asked the elf.

"He is part of the group I had mentioned to you earlier," answered Aragorn.

The elf looked Hoshi up and down. "Well then, where are the rest?"

Hoshi gave the hand signal for 'approach'. Rin jumped down beside him, along with Kakashi, Obito, and Minato-sensei.

The group of elves looked stunned. But the Fellowship had stopped being phased after Obito's third fall.

"This is, quite unexpected," said the leader slowly. "Are you a part of the Fellowship?" he asked.

"No, but I know what they carry. Let them into Lothlórien, for things will be for the better if you do," said Hoshi cryptically.

Rin was confused. _"Are they transporting a secret document or weapon of some sort?" _she thought_ "and how would Hoshi know about it?"_

But they were not given much time to ponder on Hoshi's words.

"Come with us," the elf commander snapped. With that, Team Minato entered Lothlórien.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN****:**

**Thank you Purple Pallbearer, Frostius, and** **Dreamingin2Eternity for reviewing! Once again, please review! Yes, even you awesome people who do not have accounts here. I was once on of you. I still am because I am too paranoid. Thank you and let me know if the story is too long or becoming crap.**

Kakashi was not looking forward to meeting the Lady of Lothlorien. On their way into the elven stronghold, Team Minato was given a crash course on elves and the recent events of Middle Earth. Kakashi listened with growing disbelief about a ring that turned its owners invisible and gradually corrupted their minds. He couldn't resist scanning the chakra of a dark-haired hobbit named Frodo. As Hoshi had predicted, he sensed a high concentration of black, malignant chakra around a ring near his chest. When Hoshi told them about Sauron, the master of the Ring, Kakashi did his best not to crack up. This ''dark lord" sounded like a Hyuuga that had accidently sealed part of its brain into a forehead protector (_A real life incident that occurred before Konoha was founded._)! But what sobered him up was Hoshi's depressed declaration.

"I hope that our arrival did not shift events so much that hope is lost," he said with a small tremor in his voice. "We could be of use but we cannot take away any glory that these people deserve. I would also like to exist in the future, too."

Nods and encouraging gestures were shared throughout the team. The lead elf, ("_His name is Haldir," _Kakashi remembered) cast a suspicious glare back at them. When he turned around Hoshi spat a _sebon_ past his head. Haldir whipped around, his hand on a long knife. Minato-sensei cuffed Hoshi on his pointed ears and hissed the threat of hour-long meditation.

Kakashi sighed. They didn't need Hoshi's personal vendettas to get in the way at the moment. Rin broke the tension between the group with a question.

"What is Galadrier-sama like?" she asked.

Hoshi was silent, with a pensive look on his face.

"Lady Ga**l**adrie**l **is like...A Yamanaka!" he responded, sounding pleased with his answer.

"Why is she like a Yamanaka?" she asked warily.

Hoshi grinned. "She has blonde hair, blue eyes and can look into your mind," he answered.

"What do you mean _'looks into our mind'_?" screeched Obito in outraged shock. Several elves and most of the Fellowship looked in the Uchiha's direction.

"Scream any louder and you'll raise the dead," Kakashi grumbled. He was also not thrilled about the prospect of having his mind invaded by someone who isn't even human. Sensei was silent, but the look on his face suggested that he would resort to jutsu if he needed to remove her from his thoughts.

"She also owns a mirror, and it is said that it can predict the future and show the seeker events occurring around them that they might not know about." Hoshi casually mentioned. But the oddball of Team Minato ceased to hold their attention as the Fellowship plus five entered the elven city of Caras Galadhon.

"A golden wood indeed," murmured Rin. Obito appeared to have been struck dumb. Even Hoshi looked a bit impressed.

"This is a village hidden among leaves," he muttered.

Kakashi looked up beside him to see Minato-sensei looking around in awe. Kakashi couldn't help but feel at peace. He was in a beautiful forest surrounded by peaceful "people". He had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Aragorn had been observing the group of strangers for quite some time. They still hadn't revealed anything crucial about themselves on their way to Caras Galadhon. Although it seemed that the other children had also gained an understanding of Westron. What was also curious was Hoshi's apparent dislike of Haldir. When he asked the elf about the boy, Haldir replied:

"Never before have I seen him. I do not know what I did to offend him."

As if on cue, a sharp, needle-like object cut through the air, barely missing the marchwarden's pointed ear. It took a lot to upset the elf but the child was really pushing it. The two looked on as Hoshi was boxed in the ears by Minato and something was whispered into them. Aragorn found the yellow-haired teacher's warning to be a bit too violent. However, it seemed to ease Haldir that the boy's abuse would not go unpunished. When the Fellowship plus five reached the base of the mallorn tree that housed the talan of Galadriel and Celeborn, four of the five strangers looked at the stair-case as if had given them personal insult. They did climb the stairs, but half-way up, Obito jumped off the stair-case to climb up the mallorn. But Haldir and the other elves protested so vehemently that the child reluctantly returned the stairs.

"Tree so tall, yes?" he said to Sam when he returned.

"I would say so," the hobbit responded cautiously.

"Trees just as tall at home. More fat, much dark. We like climbing them, fast path. No one find you," he prattled on cheerfully in broken Westron. Aragorn was surprised with the amount of energy that the black-haired child had. Legolas was drawn in by Obito's mention of trees.

"Do you talk with the trees?" he asked, curious.

Obito laughed. "No Uchiha tree talk, but Senju tree grow! Shodai Hokage make forest, no talk. Too silly, tree no talk!"

The broken Westron and the sheer amount of alien names made Aragorn's head swim. Poor Legolas looked just as confused. The Prince of Mirkwood turned to Hoshi to clear up his confusion.

"What are ''Uchiha", "Senju", and who is "Shodai Hokage"?" he asked.

Hoshi screwed up his face in concentration. When he spoke, he did so hesitantly.

"The Uchiha and Senju are loosely tied together families who founded the place we call home. Shodai Hokage translates as 'First Fire shadow'. It refers to the first ruler of our home, who was from the Senju clan. Apparently, he could create living trees,"

Hoshi looked back at his teacher, who gave him a nod and a smile. Legolas looked stunned and Aragorn was also second guessing his hearing.

_"A person who could grow trees wherever and whenever he wished," _he thought. _"Even elves don't have that kind of skill." _Aragorn found himself promising to find out everything about the strangers as the Fellowship (plus five) reached the talan of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. He was suddenly anticipating the five's reaction the Lady of Light's abilities. The ranger could only hope that they would be good.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN****:**

**Thank you Initiumi for favoriting, Heatherbell supporting and WolfDeamon 1000 for the awesome review. Thank you for finding my poor attempt at humor to be enjoyable.**

**#Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even this story idea (It belongs to the little voice inside my pinky).#**

_Elvish_

Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel's assessment and welcome of the Fellowship took too long. By the end of their greetings, Team Minato was asleep on their feet. Eldarion managed to stay awake because Haldir's blood-curdling glare was focused on the back of his head. The grey-eyed boy couldn't wait to get home to tell his older sister that he had managed to annoy the famously unflappable elf. He could also boast that he had met Lady Galadriel, Frodo and Boromir. Eldarion stifled yet another yawn. Sleep attempted to cloud his mind. But his mouth would have none of that. Words fell from his mouth, unbidden.

_"Grey cleansed to white_

_Slayer of the Fire_

_To be found in Fangorn."_

Eldarion murmured in Sindrian. He finished off with another yawn. Haldir looked disgusted. The Fellowship looked surprised and a bit annoyed.

Lady Galadriel spoke. "It appears that your companions are more wearied than you," she said with a faint smile. Eldarion tottered slightly on his feet and gave the Lady of Lothlorien an apologetic smile.

"My apologies," he said sheepishly. "I will wake them."

Before anyone could protest, Eldarion drew and flung several _sebon _at the feet of his companions. There were several yelps and what sounded like swears as Team Minato was rudely awakened. Kunai were drawn and Eldarion found himself in a headlock courtesy of Kakashi.

"Someone would like to talk to us," he choked out. He was immediately let go.

"These strangers' minds are impossible to read." Galadriel said, bemused.

"Maybe they wouldn't be if one asked permission," grumbled Kakashi. Galadriel raised an eyebrow. Eldarion leaned over and whispered to Kakashi.

'' Good job. You clearly have a talent in languages."

Kakashi's eye twitched as he realized that he had used the tongue seal. Obito instead grinned and said:

"Here here! Well said Kakashi, well said!"

The Fellowship looked somewhat envious that Team Minato's thoughts remained private. Then Boromir spoke.

"Hoshi," he moved toward Eldarion. "You claimed to know what we carry. Tell us, what is it that we carry?"

Eldarion was tempted to respond sarcastically, but bit back his tongue.

"You are the Fellowship of the Ring. You were named such because you travel with Frodo Baggins, the unfortunate bearer of the One Ring."

The talan went deathly silent. Eldarion began to fidget under the collective gaze of the Fellowship.

Aragorn suddenly walked to stand in front of him. It felt strange, seeing his father and not being able to call him _Ada_*.

"Just what era of Arda** did you say you were from?" his voice was quiet but hid a menacing undertone. Even though Eldarion had faced worse things, he fought to hide a shudder.

"And what if I say that it's none of your business?" Eldarion sounded braver than he felt.

The dual of words shifted to a staring contest. Needless to say, Aragorn was winning.

"Let Hoshi free," Minato said suddenly. "He no need tell. We on same side, yes?"

Galadriel returned to the conversation with a compromise.

"Hoshi does not need to explain himself. What he and his companions need to do is guard Frodo and aid the Fellowship on its quest," she turned to the other shinobi. "Do you accept this proposition?" she asked.

Team Minato looked at one another. Minato turned his head to face the Lady of the Light.

"We accept, but condition one. We get payment in end,"

Eldarion, at first confused, and then smacked his hand against his head.

_"May the powers that be boil in Mordor,"_ Eldarion venomously thought.

"We are Shinobi," continued Minato. "Like mercenary, but loyal to Hokage. No payment, no job. We on job before, now here. Need job, excuse or," he mimed having his throat slit.

_The look of shock was becoming common on the Fellowship's faces, _Eldarion idly thought.

Lady Galadriel didn't look the least bit ruffled, neither did Lord Celeborn.

"Very well, you shall receive payment when your task is fulfilled. Go rest, I can see that you are all in dire need of a nap,"

/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\

Aragorn was struggling to wrap his head around the _shinobi _enigma. Although it was good to be back in Lothlorien, everything was too off for Aragorn to appreciate the feelings of peace and safety. The Fellowship was given a place to stay at the base of a mallorn tree. The strangers were given a talan in the same tree. They appeared to be ecstatic to have the talan, running up and down the tree without any regard to the laws of nature. He decided to ignore them, as their happiness only served to irritate him. They seemed to have forgotten all about Gandalf. He felt a bit better when the younger shinobi fell asleep in the talan. But his irritation resurfaced when Minato knock politely against the trunk of the tree.

"May I join you?" he asked his speech suspiciously clear. Aragorn cautiously nodded. The yellow-haired man sat on the floor near the hobbits.

"Was told to go to you in regards to Gandalf," he said. "Hoshi said all he knew was that he made the best fireworks,"

The hobbits seemed to brighten up. Soon Frodo was telling Minato everything he knew about the Grey Istari. When Frodo finished his Gandalf-related stories, Minato gave a small smile.

"Gandalf is a great Wizard. He sacrificed his rife to make sure you could get away safely. Shinobi like that are thought of highly,"

The shelter fell into a sad, but content silence. In the distance, Aragorn heard elves lift their voices to a lament for the Fallen Istari. The teacher stood up.

"I should return before my students begin to think that I've been eaten,"

He disappeared before Aragorn could process his farewell.

The Dúnedain sighed. Picking up his sword to sharpen, he shook his head. These shinobi will probably be the death of him.

***Ada- elvish for **_**Dad **_**or **_**Daddy**_**. Adar is **_**Father**_**.**

**** Arda- another term for Middle-Earth.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN****:**

**Thank you DreamingIn2Eternity and Purple Pallbearer for the reviews! Yes, I have been staying up late and neglecting my homework for this. However, if I put it off for too long, it is guaranteed that I will leave this story unfinished. Also, I am having **_**far **_**too much fun writing this. Thank you again! **

_Elvish_

Obito found himself missing the appliances he often took for granted. The neglected appliance in this case was a shower. Upon waking up in the morning, he learned that there was only baths in this 'middle' earth. Of course, Hoshi didn't have any issues with the lack of plumbing. But the other shinobi did.

"I've always wondered why you lacked good hygiene," grumbled Obito. The pale boy gave him a glare.

"You speak of scruffiness as if it is the root of all evil," he said while digging through his backpack.

"Shinobi can get easily tracked due to their lack of hygiene..." said Kakashi as he climbed back into the talan. He had recently taken his bath, and tried tree-jumping to dry his silver hair. It only succeeded in giving him a wind-blown look.

"...by leaving a scent trail. I know Kakashi, I'm not stupid," he said while pulling out scroll after scroll. Obito did a quick tally. Hoshi had roughly ten scrolls altogether.

"Why do you have so many scrolls?" Obito asked, picking one off the floor.

"Nine of them are mine. The tenth belongs to Susano'o," he answered while unfurling a scroll.

Kakashi pulled a face. While Maito Gai was Kakashi's self-proclaimed rival, his real one was an eleven year old boy named Susano'o Oto. He was a student of the Sannin Orochimaru, along with Anko Mitarashi and an Uchiha named Kuro.

"Why would you have a scroll of his?" Kakashi just about spat. Hoshi didn't bother to look at him.

"His mother forced him to give it to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some training to do," he grabbed a scroll and jumped out of the talan.

"Lady Akira _giving away _something?" Obito sounded incredulous. Kakashi shrugged.

"She is arguably insane," he pointed out.

/*\#/*\#/*\#/*\

Legolas was at the archery range early in the morning. He had a lot on his mind, and firing arrows helped him organize his thoughts. The elf was alone at the range for quite some time before someone else arrived at the range.

"Good morning Legolas, sir," he turned his head to see Rin.

"Good morning," he responded politely. Now that she wasn't covered in soot and ash, the elf noticed something peculiar about her appearance.

"Why do you have tattoos on your cheeks?" he asked. Rin seemed to be a bit surprised.

"Oh, um...I am not too sure. Other members of my family have them," she responded.

The brunette reached into a pouch on her leg. The things she withdrew from them were odd-looking weapons. They looked like stars, all points and sharp edges. Rin carefully held three of them between her fingers. The girl stood facing the target head on. The weapons were released from her grasp as she flung her arms out in a sweeping motion. Legolas watched, fascinated, as the weapons spun through the air.

_"Her aim is slightly off," _he silently noted. Rin made a face before approaching the target to remove them.

"What are those weapons?" he asked when she returned to her spot.

"Oh, these?" Rin answered politely. "They are shuriken,"

She threw them again. This time, only one hit the target. The petite brunette cursed violently as she stomped over to retrieve the projectiles. Amused, Legolas looked on.

"I take it that you are not a master of this weapon?" he said, with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Defiantly not!'' she declared with a huff. "But it is standard gear. You are expected to know how to use them," Rin was scowling as she returned to her target. But her scowl disappeared when she saw his bow.

"Hoshi told me that you are the best archer in Middle Earth," she said cheerfully. Rin's eyebrow was raised in mock disbelief.

"Did he now?" murmured Legolas. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver and nocked it.

"You don't have to demonstrate if you don't want to," her voice floated from somewhere off to his left.

The Prince of Mirkwood gave the human child a small smile.

"I do not mind," he said, before pulling back the bowstring. Then he let the arrow fly. And another arrow. And another. And another. Soon his quiver was empty due to his rapid firing of arrows. All had hid the target, following the rings of the bull's-eye perfectly. He turned to look at the female shinobi.

Rin's eyes were as wide as saucers and her jaw had dropped in amazement.

"Wow," she managed to say. Legolas smiled. It felt good to surprise the strangers for a change.

/*\#/*\#/*\#/*\

After second breakfast, Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam were approached by Obito and Kakashi. Pippin smiled and warmly greeted the two.

"Good Morning! How was your breakfast?" he asked. The two looked at each other and then back at the hobbits.

"Food was...different," answered Obito with a cautious smile. Kakashi nodded in agreement.

An awkward silence descended between the two. The masked boy broke it.

"We were wondering if you could help us. You know how we have been tree-jumping?" he asked. The hobbits nodded. "Well, our sensei wants us to do that, but while carrying someone. Do you mind having us carry one of you around?"

The reactions were mixed. Sam looked offended, and Frodo look doubtful. Merry and Pippin seemed fascinated by the idea.

"You guys could actually carry us?" Frodo said, skeptically.

"That's the idea," Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"Oo! Oo! I'd like to go first!" cried Pippin, jumping up and down like an excited child.

Merry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll go with you," he agreed.

~•~•~•~

About three minutes into his ride, Merry was regretting his decision. Kakashi was not much taller than he was, and rather willowy in build. That was not very comfortable. But the speed he was going at! Merry was happy that hobbits rarely lost their lunches. He wasn't keen on dealing with the stranger if he threw up on him. Pippin seemed to be having more fun. Obito was going more or less in a straight line, while Kakashi tried to go upside-down on every tree they landed on. Eventually, they stopped on a tree branch. Kakashi was wheezing, trying to catch his breath. Merry realized that his arms were more or less strangling the sliver-haired boy. The hobbit quickly loosened his grip around the shinobi's neck.

"Ha ha! We beat you!" Merry looked below to see Obito and Pippin standing in a clearing. Hoshi and Boromir stood below with amused looks on their faces. Kakashi gave an angry growl and jumped off the tree branch. Merry couldn't help but yell as they plummeted to the ground. The landing jarred his teeth, and he fell off the boy's back. Kakashi promptly sat down, gasping for air.

"Merri-san, please, never ask for me to carry you again," he panted out.

"Agreed," Merry groaned.

"Good grief! What happened?" asked Boromir, bewildered.

"Kakashi run too fast, Merry have tight grip," Obito summarized.

Boromir gave a nod of understanding. Hoshi turned toward Kakashi.

"Where is Minato-sensei?" he asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "I haven't seen him since morning. What have you been doing? And what are you wearing?"

Hoshi scowled. He had dug through his clothes' scroll after training to pull out his old outfit.

"If you don't like blending in, go ahead and don't get used to the clothing here,"

Kakashi frowned back at him, silent.

"And to answer your first question, I have been training with Boromir and talking about Minas Tirith," he said with a slight wistfulness to his voice. Obito let out a small snort of laughter. Hoshi whipped around, annoyed. His annoyance vanished when he noticed that the snort came from his foster brother. Hoshi shook his head and explained.

"When I first told Obito about how Minas Tirith was made entirely out of white stone, he thought that everyone went blind on a sunny day due to the glare,"

Boromir laughed. Merry looked at Pippin. Both were slightly confused.

"Excuse me," said Merry. "But where is Minas Tirith?"

"It is in Gondor. It is the capital," said Boromir, with a hint of pride in his voice.

_"Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea! _

_West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree_

_Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old. _

_O proud walls! White towers! O wingéd crown and throne of gold! _

_O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree, _

_Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea?_"*

Hoshi sang passionately, his eyes lighting up with happiness. Kakashi sighed again, while Obito hummed along. Merry was startled by the sudden song.

"Who taught you that?" asked Boromir, looking impressed.

"My _Adar_," he said before walking over to a sword.

"You sing nicely," said Pippin.

Hoshi gave him a large smile. "Thank you!"

Boromir also picked up his sword. "As much as we would like to chat, I fear that we are unable to at the time. Hoshi would like to learn how to use a sword properly, as his current skills are worse than an orc's,"

Before Merry could approach Obito, Pippin was already on the black-haired boy's back.

"Sorry Merry," the younger hobbit said sheepishly. "But it's nearing lunchtime, and I'd rather have my appetite with me."

"See you later, Kakashi!" Obito grinned. He jumped off into the trees and was gone.

Merry turned to Kakashi. They held their gazes for a couple seconds.

"I will walk," they said in unison. Hoshi began laughing at their predicament. Boromir sighed.

"Please get going. You are distracting my student,"

Merry picked himself off the ground the same time as Kakashi, causing Hoshi to laugh harder.

"_Witch-King, be afraid!_

_Beware the White Lady,_

_and her Halfling friend!"_

Kakashi stared at his laughing friend.

"And good day to you, Hoshi!" he more or less spat. "Let us go, Merri-san."

The hobbit nodded as he walked away from the hysterical Hoshi and the exasperated Boromir.

*** This poem is Tolkien's. I found it and *stole* it from a site called tolkien. cro talesong. html (get rid of the spaces and attach to an to go there)  
><strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**AN****:**

**Thank you everyone who has read this story and stuck with me so far! A thank you is to be given to DreamingIn2Eternity and WolfDemon 1000 for reviewing. Also thank you to 6Lisa9 and FireheartNinja for putting this story on their alerts list. I would also like to thank a dear friend who introduced me to ****Lord of the Rings ****(for better or worse!).**

**Yes this is a nasty filler chapter. I can only hope that it isn't too boring.**

**I am aware that a good 97% of my "facts" are not straight. But then again, what about this story is canon? Let me know if my lack of straight facts is bothering you, the reader. The review button is open to all, so please click!**

Lunch was held back under their mallorn tree when the sun was high in the sky. Eldarion was sore from his lesson with Boromir. The tall boy was horrible with a sword. Why, he could barely swing a sword, let alone fight with it! But that was before Boromir discovered that he was left-handed. It was slightly embarrassing, knowing that all this time, he was being taught to use the wrong hand. But thoughts of swords were quickly vanished when the topic of food arose. Eldarion had an enthusiastic love for honey and berries, two things that were not common in Konoha. It felt good to eat his favorite foods again during breakfast. However, none of his teammates, Sensei included, really liked the food.

"It's a lot richer than we're used to," explained Rin as they gathered briefly in the talan before lunch. "It also explains why you usually eat double the servings."

"Yeah! Hey, Hoshi? Do you have any food storage scrolls?" asked Obito. His dark eyes were focused intently on his pile of scrolls.

Eldarion scowled. "Do you really hate the food that much?" he said, injured.

"No! I just prefer being able to move in the afternoons," Obito defended.

"So do you have one or not?" asked Kakashi.

Eldarion sighed and picked up a red scroll. "Return the scroll to me after you get your meals,"

He handed the food scroll to Rin. "Please make sure Obito doesn't take more than one," Obito gave an indignant cry.

"If that's the _Origiri*_scroll, than you owe me double!" he said as they climbed out of the talan.

"Obito, two of them are stocked with _Origiri. _The third has instant ramen and a kettle," Eldarion grumbled.

"I thought you hated instant ramen?" Obito looked puzzled.

"I do," he clarified as they landed on the ground. "It just keeps better."

"Clever," Kakashi said. They approached the table at which the Fellowship sat. Pippin just about dragged the young shinobi over to their spot at the table.

"Just in the nick of time!" the young hobbit said cheerfully. "We saved a spot for you!" He promptly shoved a plate of some sort of meat into Eldarion's hands when he sat down.

"Thank you, Pippin. That was very kind of you," said Rin as she sat down. As the team settled in, Aragorn turned his head toward them.

"Where is your teacher? I have not seen him all day and I have things to discuss with him,"

Eldarion responded. "I know not. I wouldn't be surprised if he had left Lothlórien," he passed the plate of meat on to Gimli, who gave him a basket of bread.

"Left Lothlórien?" asked Legolas with a bemused look on his face. The elf passed Eldarion a platter of vegatables.

"He probably wanted to get a feel for the country and the weather," said Kakashi. "It is a lot colder here than we are used to."

The Hatake was subtly removing the _Origiri _from the scroll and distributing it to Rin and Obito. Each had the good sense to make it appear that the rice balls came from their pouches.

"What is your home like?" asked Boromir as Eldarion passed the vegetables along to him.

"It's warm and covered in forests and hills. It does have a few rivers and small mountains, and access to the sea." said Rin before she bit into her _Origiri. _

"What is the food like?" asked Pippin while stuffing some of the meat into his mouth.

"Hot," answered Eldarion.

"Hot? What do you mean by 'hot'?" asked Gimli. The dwarf, as well as the hobbits, was confused.

"They usually put something into their food that makes you mouth feel like it's on fire when you eat it," Eldarion said while pulling a face.

All three shinobi gave a snort of laughter all at once. Eldarion glared at them.

"It sounds a lot like Haradian food," Aragorn said. Eldarion gave a nod.

"It is. But not all of their food is spicy. Just the ones that these guys serve me," he ended with a growl.

Obito shook his head. "You no get over that?" he said with mock disapproval.

"Would you like to eat raw horseradish?" Eldarion muttered back.

The table fell back into a comfortable silence. Soon enough, Frodo broke the silence.

"What is that symbol on your headbands?" he asked.

"This?" Rin pointed to the middle of her forehead protector. "It is the symbol of our village. It represents a leaf."

"Interesting," murmured Aragorn. "Is your village made up of mercenaries?" he asked in a louder voice.

"Actually, we are our country's main military power. Acting like mercenaries grants us extra income," said Kakashi aggressively. "Rest assured, we are not mere mercenaries."

Obito nodded in agreement to his teammate's statement, as did Rin. Both looked miffed by the accusation.

"What about you, Aragorn? I have heard that you serve in a military force. Surely your equipment was not given to you for free?" Kakashi questioned, eyes narrowed and triumphant.

Eldarion looked to see Aragorn's eyes narrow also. _"This is not good,"_ he thought.

"I did, sometimes, take requests for money. However that was not often,"

Kakashi gave a cold nod, barely satisfied with his answer.

A stiff silence stretched across the table. Eldarion finally broke it.

"How long are we to stay in the Golden wood?" he asked to the air.

"About a month," responded Aragorn. Eldarion nodded, satisfied. Obito looked confused.

"Why stay rong? Situation emergancy, yes? Move fast, enemy no time to move," he said.

When nobody answered him, it was clear that there wasn't a good excuse for the long wait. Eldarion tried to answer his foster brother.

"Things move more slowly here than at home. Besides, there are a lot of things to discuss and plans to make. We need all the time we can get,"

Obito gave a satisfied nod. "Time move srower here, no?"

Eldarion gave him a small smile. "Indeed it does," he whispered.

"My, you guys know how to eat," came a voice directly behind his head. Eldarion, who was eating, choked in surprise.

''Ah, Minato. We were wondering where you went off to," said Aragorn pleasantly.

"It is nice to hear that you were concerned about my absence," the yellow-haired man said with a bright smile. "I believe you would like to discuss something with me?''

The Ranger gave him a small smile. "You must have keener ears than I thought,"

Minato-sensei laughed. "Not at all! I would like to discuss something with you myself. Shall we do so now?"

Aragorn inclined his head in agreement. Then he stood up from the table and walked away with their teacher.

"What could they have to discuss?" Rin wondered aloud.

"Many things lass," answered Gimli. "Enemy movements, stratagies, or your eventual payment. It could be anyone of those."

"Whatever it is, I hope the outcome is favorable." said Eldarion in a wary voice.

"Ret is be so, brother," agreed Obito. "Ret is be so,"

***Origiri- Japanese riceballs**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN****:**

**Some of you might be wondering why I didn't update late Friday night. I simply didn't have the time to do so. I might have just dropped a couple readers, but I am just drained. **

**So yes, more filler. I am truly sorry for the lack of familiar scenes, but I promise that this is the last filler chapter. **

**Thank you Purple Pallbearer for reviewing, you really are the best. And to everyone else, thank you for simply reading this poor excuse for a cross over. Once it is done, I might upgrade it. If that is popular demand, of course. But enough of me, onto the Story**

When Aragorn and Minato were far enough away, the blonde's cheerful face turned serious.

"You have many enemies," he stated quietly.

Aragorn gave him a wry smile. "Aye. It has been this way for many generations."

Minato looked sympathetic. "So is our help welcome? he asked curiously.

"Any help is welcome!" Aragorn declared, throwing up his hands. Minato looked at his normally gloomy 'client'. He was clearly stressed and exhausted, desperate for some form of assistance. Hoshi had mentioned several times that he was the exiled King of some country in the south. _"No wonder he is stressed," _Minato thought sadly. Aragorn turned his unnervingly old eyes toward the shorter shinobi.

"But...your skills are incredibly strange. Before we work together, it would be preferable that we know the extent of your and your student's skills."

"Fair enough," Minato said reluctantly. It was clear that the shinobi was not keen on revealing secrets. "What would you like to know?"

Aragorn started pacing around. Minato had often heard the short people call him Strider.

_"How aptly named," _the shinobi thought.

"Intelligence, stamina, skills with different kinds of weapons, special abilities. And anything that you deem necessary to the success of this quest,"

Once again the shinobi felt uneasy when the bright grey eyes turned their gaze to his sky blue ones. The Yellow Flash knew that this Aragorn was determined that his quest succeed. According to Hoshi, their world would end if they failed. Minato took a deep breath.

"None of this is to leave you or your companions. If it does, I will have to get rid of you, understand?"

The man's pale face displayed no emotions, negative or otherwise. Minato continued.

"I will start with Rin. She is very intelligent, but a gentle sour. She is strong in mind and spirit, but not so much in body," he paused before Aragorn waved his hand, telling the teacher to continue. "She is our team's medic. I believe that you call them healers, yes?"

Aragorn gave him a small smile. "I am one myself," he said.

Minato gave him a sunny smile. "You should discuss medical techniques sometime, yes?"

Aragorn gave him a nod and waved his hand, indicating that Minato should continue.

"She has no special skill in weapons. Although, she can heal people by touching them,"

The Yellow flash was doing his best not to mention chakra. It was most likely that they wouldn't understand anyway. Hoshi still had a hard time grasping the concept.

Aragorn had finally stopped pacing. "She has a healing touch?" he looked slightly confused.

Minato fidgeted. "Something like that," he said with a half-smile.

The tall man resumed pacing, satisfied with the answer. The jōnin-sensei was getting agitated by his pacing. Doing his best to ignore it, Minato moved on.

"Kakashi is a prodigy, to say the least. He is a brilliant fighter, one of Konoha's best. Kakashi is able to use a special kind of sword that he inherited from his father. He specializes in creating lightning."

The dark-haired man froze mid-stride. Aragorn turned to face the befuddled shinobi, eyes wide.

"Did you say create lightning?" he said hesitantly. His expression was one of disbelief.

"Yes. It is not uncommon," responded Minato. "Elemental manipulation is often a trademark of a clan, village or country. For example, our country is called the Land of Fire because most shinobi specialize in Fire release techniques,"

Aragorn went to lean against a nearby mallorn. "Sweet Eru," he murmured, running a hand over his face. Minato looked over, concerned.

"Are you all right? Shall I not continue?" he asked.

Aragorn waved him off. "No, please continue. I am simply a little...overwhelmed,"

The jōnin-sensei gave him an unconvinced nod.

"Obito is clever, but rather easygoing; A good fighter, very good with his kunai. He is highly proficient with his Fire techniques,"

Aragorn gave a small nod before turning back to Minato.

"What is that contraption he wears over his eyes and ears? I have never seen anything quite like it,"

The Yellow Flash gave him a fond smile. "That is a pair of goggles and ear protectors. The goggles keep debris out of his eyes and reduce the glare of the sun. He comes from a clan, the Uchiha clan, which has special eyes. So he does whatever he can to protect them,"

Aragorn nodded in understanding. Minato took the opportunity to move forward.

"I am a high ranking shinobi, called a jōnin. Kakashi is a chūnin, or regular shinobi. The rest are genin or junior shinobi," he paused, then continued on. "I am considered to be a good fighter in our village. As for abilities, the one that I am most known for is called _Hiraishin, _or 'Frying Thunder God'. It is a form of teleportation, where I can appear where ever one of these knives are," he held up his special kunai for Aragorn to see.

"I also can make seals, which can be used for a verity of things. For example, I fashioned a couple that can translate your language and so we can speak it,"

The man's eyes seemed to spark with understanding after Minato showed him the seals on his ears and tongue.

"That explains why you were able to understand and speak to us so quickly," he murmured with realization.

"That brings me to why I wished to speak with you. It has to do with our payment," Aragorn gave Minato a dark look. The blonde unwittingly winced.

"It is early to speak about, I know. But I was wondering if half our pay could be in _Oni_ blood," Aragorn looked surprised. "You can have all the...Oh-nee...blood you want. If you are referring to Orcs and Goblins, of course,"

Minato gave him an eager nod. "Thank you. You are most generous," he declared.

Aragorn stopped leaning on the tree and returned pacing. "You have neglected one thing," The intense grey eyes returned to his face. "What about Hoshi? Do you know his actual name?"

Minato cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy. "His Middle Earth name? Yes, it's completely beyond our ability to pronounce,"

Aragorn sighed. "And what of his abilities?"

Minato sighed. "He is an odd duck. Hoshi prefers to fight with a type of polearm called a _Guan Dao_ and use a type of needle called a _sebon. _He is fairly skilled with both. He knows a couple of Fire techniques and a couple Water-based ones."

Aragorn nodded. "Is that all?"

Minato gave a strange laugh. "I am not quite finished. He is skilled in something called genjutsu. It involves illusions and tricking the mind of the target into thinking something is happening or is present when it isn't. An example of this is creating the illusion that the target is on fire. They will think they are on fire, and so they will feel pain. There is a way to break out the illusion. That is to inflict pain on oneself."

Aragorn looked uneasy. "What do you know about his heritage?" he asked.

Minato was slightly confused. "Do you mean his family? I know he has an older sister and both his parents are still alive,"

Aragorn snorted in annoyance. "Never mind. Does he say strange things often?"

Minato thought about it. "Does it matter?" he asked, his tone rather chilly.

The Yellow Flash was surprised to see a brief flicker of fear in the man's eyes.

"No, it does not," Aragorn clapped the shinobi on the shoulder. "Thank you for the information. Please let me know if you need anything." With that, the gloomy man walked off somewhere else. Minato sighed. He had lingered around the lunch table for a few minutes before making his presence known after returning from his morning trip.

_"So we are staying here for a month, huh?"_ he thought. Minato had returned to the mouth of that cave early in the morning to investigate the surroundings. Of course, the area was swarming with _Oni_. But he had learned earlier while they were traveling to the forest that the _Oni_'s blood was special.

He allowed himself to sit down before pulling a whistle out of his pouch. Minato blew it, summoning his students. He was not disappointed.

"You summoned us Sensei?" asked Kakashi. Rin was with him, with an excited look on her face.

"Sensei! We found someone who could out-eat Chouza-sempai!" she was practically jumping up and down.

Minato was amused and interested. "Who would that be?" he asked.

"Pippin! Or Merri. Or Frodo. Or Sam. Anyone of them really!" Rin was grinning from ear to ear.

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he skeptically asked.

Rin nodded enthusiastically. Kakashi also nodded his head.

"They seemed to be able to handle anything. Hoshi gave them a Fireball _Origiri_, and they didn't even flinch,"

Their teacher felt his jaw drop. The Fireball _Origiri _was an old Uchiha recipe that involved stuffing the rice with every possible hot spice and then soaking it in spiced alcohol. The clan claimed that it improved their fire techniques. After seeing Obito eat one then preform _Gōkakyū no Jutsu_, he was inclined to agree.

"Nah, they are just better at hiding their discomfort than I was," heads turned to see Hoshi walk over alongside Obito.

"You jerous!" teased the Uchiha.

"Am not!" Hoshi yelled indignantly.

"Settle down, you two," Minato said to the arguing boys. Hoshi and Obito quit their squabble and sat down. So did Rin and Kakashi.

"I have news," He declared when everyone was settled. "Those tunnels we came out of are completely inaccessible because of the _Oni_."

The younger shinobi looked at one another.

"So we have no choice but to help these people," concluded Kakashi. Minato nodded.

"But on the plus side, I have found something that improves the efficiency of seals," the four students watched as their teacher pulled out a flask filled with black liquid.

"_Oni _blood," Minato said like a child receiving candy. His students gave him a nod. Then the Yellow Flash turned to Obito with a grin.

"I still have to fix your tongue seal, Obito-kun,"

The Uchiha turned green and promptly ran in the opposite direction of his teacher. Minato promptly stood up to give chase. Rin, Hoshi and Kakashi looked on, amused.

"You'rr never take me arive!" cried Obito, seconds before Minato tackled him.

"Hoshi, could you send him to sleep?" he called while holding down the struggling Uchiha.

Hoshi complied and formed the seals. While he activated the genjutsu, his eyes glazed over slightly and he spoke.

_"One dead, Another burned._

_Succumbing to madness, _

_the Steward of Gondor."_

Hoshi then shook his head to clear his mind. The rest of the shinobi team (bar the now snoring Obito) was staring at him.

"What?" He gave them a nervous look.

"You were predicting things again," stated Kakashi. Hoshi's face went from nervous to annoyed.

"I was? Dammit!" he quickly stood up, his eyes scanning the treetops and trunks. Minato relaxed and turned back to Obito, prying open his mouth to correct the seal on the Uchiha's tongue. Rin and Kakashi were also standing up, looking for any eavesdroppers.

"How bad would it be if anyone heard you say that and understood it?" asked Rin, her lively eyes darting around.

Hoshi chewed his lip anxiously. "Very bad," he responded, turning to face his teammates. "Fortunately, it seems that no one heard that."

None of the shinobi seemed to notice the golden hair of a certain Mirkwood elf, just peeking out behind a tree trunk, as he retreated to tell the Fellowship what he had heard.


	12. An Interlude

It was an unusually grey day in Konohagakure. The color of the sky reflected Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandime Hokage's mood perfectly. He had not received any messages from Namikaze Minato and his team for a week. He considered the possibility of the team going rogue but it was preposterous. There was no reason for Konoha's Yellow Flash to abandon his village, and his students were too young to entertain the possibility. His troubled thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his office door.

"Come in," he said in a weary voice. A copper-skinned woman with dark braided hair entered. Her painted lips were set in a troubled frown.

"Ah, Akira-san. What can I do for you?" he asked, sitting in his chair. She presented a scroll to him.

"You remember that command to keep an eye on Eldarion the foreigner?" she said as Sarutobi unfurled the scroll.

"Indeed I do. The Uchiha clan is doing a splendid job, as is Minato. Why, is there a problem?"

Akira gave her superior an impatient sigh. Sarutobi-sama still hadn't looked at the scroll.

"My husband had informed me that Team Minato had recently gone missing,"

The Hokage gave her a look.

"And what does this scroll have to do with anything?" he politely asked.

"Just look at the damn thing!" she snapped. After sending a glare to the insolent Tokubetsu jōnin, Sarutobi turned his attention to the scroll. On the scroll was an incredibly detailed map. However, it displayed some foreign land, and the names of the places were written in a strange language.

"I suggest sending someone after them," Akira interjected with a hopeful tone in her voice.

Sarutobi looked up from the map. "Why should we do that? From the looks of it, they somehow ended up in a completely different world. While the disappearance of Team 7 is a great loss, we cannot afford to lose anymore shinobi. Our ranks are stretched thin and Iwa has been making threatening moves. No, we cannot do that!"

Akira's face colored with anger. She slammed her well-manicured nails onto the desk.

"What if their only hope of getting back is because we send someone through?" she roared. "The scroll can only track them for so long and we need to establish a form of communication. Send Jiraiya after them, or better yet, Orochimaru!"

Sarutobi rubbed his temples. _"I see that she has taken after Tsunade quite well" _He thought, idly noticing cracks in the windows.

Akira seemed to calm down. "I would suggest Uzumaki Kushina for the job due to her competence in Fūninjutsu. But I doubt the elders would release her from the village, let alone another world."

The Sandaime Hokage released a heavy sigh.

"I will consider your request," he said wearily. "But there is a lot of preparation need for this mission," He looked at the excited kunoichi. "And I expect you to do your part, understood?"

The foreign woman eagerly saluted him. "Understood, Hokage-sama!"

Sarutobi had to give her a small smile. With a chuckle, the rolled up the scroll and handed it back to her.

"I understand you have work to do, Akira-san," he said as she took the tracking scroll.

Akira laughed and gave him a deep bow before leaving the office.

After she left, Sarutobi stood up to look out the large windows. He noticed the clouds breaking apart, and the sun shining through.

_"I need to get these windows fixed," _he thought. _"And this time they would be shatter-proof."_


	13. Chapter 12

id:7772975

**AN****:**

**I really have failed you. So much for last filler chapter. But I would like to thank Targul for putting this on story alert and the community They Who Read Between The Lines for the C2. As a wise fanfiction author once said, **_**"Reviews=Inspiration=Quicker Updates."**_** Also, how am I to make a story more palatable if no one reviews? **

**Sorry for the rant. You guys/gals really are the best.**

_*Swoosh*_

_CLANG!_

Boromir blocked Hoshi's attack with his shield. Several weeks ago, the shinobi approached the Fellowship with an idea. Both sides would learn the basic concepts of each other's fighting styles. Neither group was particularly good at the other side's techniques. In fact, Hoshi was the only one to win a fight using the techniques of Middle Earth. It was not often that the participants would come out unscathed. So to minimize damages, everyone had chosen someone to spar with. Boromir had ended up with Hoshi, his student in swordplay and fellow Gondorian (from another age).

At the moment, the tall boy had traded in the sword for a strange weapon. The '_Guan Dao_' was a polearm with a heavy, curved single-edged head. The weapon was much taller than Hoshi, who already had an advantage in height.

When the Gondorian was first faced in dueling the child with it, the shield quickly became his new best friend.

Boromir's eyes focused on his dueling partner. He noticed the weapon being pulled back to the boy's side. Hoshi's pale face gave no indication on what his next move would be. Boromir readied his shield-arm. His opponent squared his stance, tensing. The Gondorian prepared himself for the attack.

‡_Crark‡_

_*CLANG*_

Both boy and adult jumped back as a blur of green and blonde tumbled backwards into the clearing. The form had deflected a kunai, which embedded itself at Hoshi's feet.

"You get better every battle, Legolas," A voice projected from a mallorn branch.

Legolas beamed at his opponent. Hoshi didn't look so thrilled.

"Sensei!? I was on a roll here!" he whined.

Boromir snorted. "Indeed you were. Eventually your weapon would make a small dent in my trusty shield, eh?"

The elf did his best not to laugh, as did Minato. Hoshi turned beet red.

"I suppose you are correct, Lord Boromir." he mumbled. The Steward's son shook his head and gave him a grin.

"You did keep me pinned back on the defensive. And not everybody can deflect your weapon," Boromir pointed out.

" 'Tis true, I suppose," Hoshi leaned against the bright red shaft of the weapon. "Only your shield and Master Gimli's axe have given my _Guan Dao _any trouble."

Legolas nodded in agreement. "You move too quickly for my knives or bow to be of any use,"

"You say that as if you were slow!" cried Minato as he jumped to the ground. "You are the fastest member of the Fellowship!" he praised.

Legolas smiled brightly at his new friend. The cheerful elf was the only member of the Fellowship whose reflexes were fast enough for Minato. Aragorn came in at a close second, so Kakashi selected him.

Boromir was content with his abilities in neutralizing the shinobi's way of fighting. He accepted that he was not a shinobi and thus couldn't fight like one. The rest of the Fellowship seemed to feel that way, too.

"I suppose it is time to meet up for lunch, as the sun is high in the sky," Hoshi said as he looked up past the treetops. Minato nodded in agreement.

"Indeed it is," said Legolas as he sheathed his long knives. "I will see you both at lunch, Boromir, Hoshi."

The prince of Mirkwood followed Minato off to lunch. Boromir carefully watched his retreating back. The Gondorian had noticed that Legolas was often shadowing Hoshi. The elf was friendly to the boy, but Boromir saw distrust in his clear blue eyes.

Hoshi gave him a smile and half-bow. "Don't take all the fish, Sensei!" He yelled to his teacher.

Boromir waited as Hoshi activated a seal on his armguards and put away his polearm. The Fellowship had a strange mix of surprise and envy when they learned about storage seals. Boromir was pleasantly surprised when Hoshi volunteered to teach him how to use a storage seal.

"All set, Lord Boromir," Hoshi said when he finished sealing the weapon. The boy threw out his arm in the direction of their mallorn. "To lunch!" he cried.

It was then a round object landed in Hoshi's outstretched hand. Boromir barely had enough time to jump out of the way as a mix of elflings and hobbits tackled Hoshi.

He couldn't help it. Boromir started laughing at the situation. Hoshi managed to stick his head out of the pile and give him a venomous look. That only made the Gondorian laugh harder.

*_Tw~WEET!*_

Rin entered the clearing holding a whistle in her hand. She strode over to the group and promptly grabbed an elfling by the ear.

"For the umpteenth time, Tharlion, DON'T THROW OUT OF BOUNDS! You have good ears, use them!" she sighed and let go. "The winning point goes to the Shire,"

The hobbits cheered.

Hoshi groaned. "Isn't the playing field several miles from here?" he asked, still clutching the ball.

Another elfling responded. "That it is, Eldarion! I was surprised that the hobbits could keep up,"

"Hey," cried Merry. "Don't underestimate us, Faelon! We won five out of ten games!"

Faelon sighed in defeat. One of the four elflings looked skyward.

"I believe that it is time for our noon meal. Would you excuse us? Hérion and I are expected back at home," a shorter elfling standing beside the speaker nodded.

"Us too," spoke Thalion, who was clutching his ear. Faelon was snickering slightly, while the 'injured' elfling glared at him.

Rin gave the four elflings a charming smile. "Of course you may go. I have no command over you except during games. Have a good lunch!"

The four elflings waved goodbye and disappeared into the golden tree. Boromir noted that as soon as the elflings mentioned lunch, the hobbits took off in a flash. Rin seemed to notice that and shook her head. Hoshi held out the ball and Rin took it.

"All they worry about is food," she muttered before jumping off into the trees. Once again, the two Gondorians were left alone in the clearing.

Boromir turned to Hoshi, confused. "Eldarion? Is that your name?"

The boy stood up and dusted off his clothing. "My Middle Earth name, yes,"

_"He's avoiding eye contact," _Boromir noted.

"Do you wish to hide your identity?" he asked. Hoshi/Eldarion gave him a wild-eyed look.

"What do you mean? Minato-sensei, Obito, Rin, Kakashi and the rest of the village knows my name. Hoshi is just easier to say, that's all."

"Oh," the Steward's son saw that Hoshi/Eldarion was getting flustered.

"Would you like for me to continue calling you Hoshi?" he said in a pacifying tone.

"Yes, please do!" Hoshi said, relieved.

The pale boy sent him a smile. "Let us go to lunch before anyone else walks into the clearing."

Boromir laughed and the two friends strolled off to lunch.

‡#‡=‡#‡=‡#‡=‡#‡

Obito breathed in deeply. "A fine day today, right Gimli-san?"

The dwarf grunted. "I've seen better, laddie."

As usual, sparring partners Uchiha Obito and Gimli, son of Gloin were the first to lunch. Obito was his usual outgoing self, while Gimli was simply cordial at first.

"Is something the matter? According to Hoshi we should be leaving Lothlórien tomorrow. I am sure you would be happier to be in a place with fewer elves," Obito was playing with an apple, balancing it on his nose.

Gimli laughed. "You know me too well, laddie," Obito grinned, dropping the apple into his mouth.

The dwarf then slowly turned serious. "I am wonderin' what we're going tah do with the Ring."

The shinobi frowned. "Hoshi told me that we are gonna drop it in Mt. Doom,"

Gimli looked at his companion's confused face.

"Oh, we are going tah do that, laddie," he clarified. "It's more of 'how are we going tah get there."

"Oh," Obito nodded in understanding. He took a big bite of the apple.

"You look like a stuffed pig," said a taunting voice.

Gimli looked up to see that Kakashi and Aragorn had returned. Obito's dark eyes narrowed.

"And you look like a stupid scarecrow," he spat after swallowing the bite.

Aragorn sighed and sat across from the dwarf as the two descended into bickering.

Gimli looked over the ranger. "You look as if you got chewed up by a warg," he commented.

Aragorn nodded, exhausted. "I now see why Minato called him a prodigy. He has picked up the use of a sword and bow so quickly. It takes much longer for me to disarm him,"

They turned to the bickering children. They were slinging insults at each other, and most had to do with their respective mothers.

Aragorn looked concerned. "Should we stop them?" he asked.

Gimli shook his head. "Leave them be. If they look like they're going their shinobi magic, than we step it,"

The human and the dwarf listened as Obito's mother was called uglier than an orc and stupider than a sheep. Obito retaliated with an insult with had Gimli stuffing his fist into his mouth to control his laughter. Aragorn seemed to get more and more uneasy as time went on.

Several minutes later, they were still going at it with no sign of slowing down. Their teacher and Legolas had returned, as did Rin and the hobbits. Agitated, Aragorn approached Minato.

"They are bickering again, aren't they?" said the jōnin without looking up.

"Could you break up the fight?" Aragorn asked.

Minato looked thoughtful. "What is the current insult?" he asked.

Surprised, Aragorn responded. "Kakashi's mother is bigger than a bijuu, whatever that means,"

The yellow-haired shinobi took a bite out of a bird's leg. After he swallowed, he looked up at the tall man.

"Leave them be. I haven't seen Obito get this far without taking it personally,"

Aragorn stood, dumbfounded. Rin, the petite brunette healer gave him an apologetic smile.

"It is a skill to give and take insults back at home," she explained. "Kakashi usually wins these sort of fights, so it is nice to see Obito holding his own."

Aragorn nodded in thanks and returned to his seat. Boromir was sitting between Gimli and Legolas. Both did not appear to be in high spirits. Boromir, however, was enthralled by the verbal dual going on next to Gimli.

"It never stops, does it?" a voice sighed. Aragorn turned to see Hoshi sitting next to him, eating a fish.

"Speak for yourself, pansy," growled Kakashi from beside him.

Obito gave a cry of triumph. "I win! You didn't retaliate! I win!"

But his celebration was ended when he noticed Hoshi and Kakashi giving each other 'the Look'.

Aragorn noticed the temperature drop several degrees around Hoshi. Gimli and Boromir seemed to notice as well.

"Oh no," squeaked Obito.

"What did you call me?" Hoshi's voice was as cold and threatening as his expression.

"I called you a spineless cry-baby who can't take an insult," Kakashi responded coolly.

"At least I wouldn't give up on life if I was called that over and over," he spat.

Rin and Obito gasped. Aragorn could tell that the particular insult was incredibly bad because Minato stood up.

"That's enough, you two," he said quietly, walking over to them.

Kakashi ignore the warning.

"At least I wasn't a bitter bastard disappointment," he hissed. "At least I never got any of my friends killed,"

Aragorn saw what was coming. Hoshi lunged forward, but Aragorn restrained him. Minato did the same with Kakashi.

_"How Dare You! Let me go, Let me go so I can kill him!"_ Aragorn was doing his best to hold on the thrashing boy. The child's knowledge of Elvish surprised him. The Ranger was thankful when Boromir helped restrain him.

_"You won't know the value of what you have until it's too late!"_ he screamed to Kakashi. _"You will fail to save anybody, and all who you hold dear will be dead! Mark my words, Hatake!"_

They managed to drag him behind a mallorn tree, still struggling. When he refused to calm down, Aragorn slapped him.

"Will you calm down!" he half yelled, half pleaded. Hoshi stared back at the two men in shock.

Large grey eyes, with flecks of sapphire blue stared back at him. Emotions swam across his eyes, guilt, sorrow, hurt and betrayal. Aragorn looked at the shaking boy with pity.

"What have I done?" he whispered hoarsely. "Oh, what have I _**said**_?"

Hoshi put his face in his hands. The child curled up into a ball. Aragorn had no idea what to do. He had no experience with children. Boromir knelt beside the distraught child and gathered him up into an embrace. Hoshi grabbed on to him like a drowning sailor, muffling his sobs in Boromir's shoulder. Aragorn watched as Gondor's captain stayed there, as silent and constant as a rock, comforting the boy. In what seemed like hours later, Hoshi calmed down. He sniffed, and wiped away the remaining tears.

"Thank You, Lord Boromir," he whispered.

Boromir gave Hoshi a sad smile and a pat on the head. "You should go apologize to your teammate," he said softly.

The child nodded and gave him a small bow. He then turned around. Aragorn was stunned by the scathing and betrayed look that was given to him. Hoshi then walked off without another word.


	14. Chapter 13

**AN****:**

**Wow. Thank you so much AvivA-AvivA, HeWhoWatchesFromTheMist, Metoochocolate and Anonymous Reviewer! **

**To AvivA-AvivA: Your Review made me so happy~! You are correct about the spelling error. I will go fix it...the update after this. (I procrastinate.)**

**To the Reviewer: I like Minato and Obito quite a bit. I also feel that it is actually plausable for this to happen.**

**To Metoochocolate: Thank You! They technically are in the Fellowship's story, so I can't have them win every battle and make the Fellowship look like idiots. But I will have to disappoint you on updates. Real life just suckerpunched me so I have a lot of work to do. But I will try!**

**To HeWhoWatchesFromTheMist: I will stop the accent because, frankly, It's a pain for me too. I will re-edit the previous chapters for the most part (Obito's defuct translator non-withstanding). About underpowered shinobi, you are partially correct. I hope you will hold on and we shall see.**

**On with the show!**

The morning for the departure of the Fellowship from Lothlórien was a hectic one. Team 7 had prepared for the journey the night before. The only thing left for them to do was take a bath.

"Never in my life have I seen someone take so many baths," Legolas said to Minato when the shinobi met up with him at the base of their mallorn.

Minato laughed, toying with his drying, spiky hair. "What can I say? Our people appreciate a good scrubbing,"

"And it throws trackers of the scent," added Kakashi, who was drying his silver hair.

Legolas wondered if the serious child bathed with his mask on. The elf had never seen the boy without it.

Kakashi looked up to the talan. "Oi, Hoshi. Do you have the scrolls?"

A dark-haired head poked out from the platform.

"Weapons, clothes, supplies or food?" he asked.

Legolas marveled on how quickly the damaged feelings of yesterday were repaired. Hoshi and Kakashi acted as if the insults were never said. Each went out of their way to help the other, and that way, there were no hard feelings when the sun went down.

"Weapons," Kakashi responded dully. Two scrolls were tossed down. The masked shinobi caught them.

Minato looked up at his student. "Hoshi, I want you to give Rin the supplies scroll and Obito the clothes scrolls. You hold on to the food scrolls,"

Hoshi saluted, and then retreated back to the talan. In a few minutes Rin dropped from the talan.

The petite brunette was ready.

"Good morning Master Legolas," she said cheerfully.

"Good morning Lady Rin," he replied politely.

"Where is Obito?" asked Minato.

"He's coming," Rin responded airily.

Right on cue, Obito came running down the tree. He managed to stop himself before he ran over his team.

"Good morning Master Legolas!" he cried.

The elf winced as the boy basically yelled out his greeting into his sensitive ear.

"Good morning Master Obito," Legolas ground out as politely as possible. The elf wondered how someone could be so energetic at such an hour. Aragorn soon joined them.

"The hobbits have just finished second breakfast," he mentioned.

Minato gave him a smile. "Ah, excellent! I would like my team to see the Ring while we still are in the safety of Lothlórien,"

Legolas frowned, as did Aragorn.

"Are you sure that it is a wise idea?" Aragorn asked.

"We have to know what it looks like, just in case," pointed out Kakashi.

Legolas reluctantly agreed that it would be a better idea for them to see the Ring.

Inhaling deeply, the prince of Mirkwood scanned his surroundings. He was surprised to see Haldir walking toward them.

_"Well met, Marchwarden Haldir,"_ he greeted the newcomer.

_"Well met, Legolas Thranduilion,"_ Haldir returned the greeting. He turned to Minato.

"Is Hoshi awake?" he asked.

"I'm up!" called Hoshi. Haldir's eyes widened slightly as he saw the shinobi walk down the tree. But otherwise, the elf showed no reaction to the child's antics.

"Lady Galadriel would like to see you right now,"

Hoshi paled slightly, but otherwise showed no emotion.

"Alright, 'tis better not to waste time at all. Lead the way, Marchwarden,"

Legolas had almost felt bad for telling the Lady of the Light about Hoshi's strange utterings. But when Haldir told him the he had also heard Hoshi say a weird statement, Legolas knew that it was for the best.

"Where's Hoshi going?"

The elf turned around to see Frodo. Sam was just behind him. Merry and Pippin were further away, goofing off

"Lady Galadriel wished to see him," answered Aragorn. Frodo looked confused, as did Sam.

"Why did she want to see Hoshi?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Aragorn answered tiredly. Minato quickly turned to the hobbits.

"Ah, just the hobbits we need to see!" he said, giving them a brilliant smile.

"Is there something you want, Minato?" Frodo asked politely, but wary.

Minato's smile lessened from brilliant to cheerful.

"Would you mind showing us the Ring?" he asked, making no moves toward the Ringbearer.

Frodo looked anxious, but nodded. The shinobi huddled around him as he took the Ring out from his shirt. They stood still, looking at the gold band. Aragorn and Legolas practically held their breaths.

Obito broke the silence first.

"What an annoying piece of shi-mumph!" Minato swiftly clapped his large hand over Obito's mouth. Frodo and the others looked shocked.

"Annoying? Of all the words to describe it, you call the One Ring annoying?" Aragorn cried.

The shinobi were surprised to hear anger in the normally calm ranger's voice.

"Well, all we hear is gibberish in our heads," defended Obito. "Right?"

Rin, Kakashi and, Minato nodded their heads in agreement.

"But what about the desire to take the Ring?" asked Legolas. "Do you not feel that?"

The turned to each other. This time, Rin spoke.

"We can feel its darkness, its hate. We have felt the presence of things like that at home and all they do is kill and destroy. The Ring can only promise invisibility, which any genin can pull off. No, we do not want the Ring."

For the first time in a long time, Frodo looked hopeful.

"Than if you are immune to its power, please, take it! Carry it to Mount Doom instead!" he held out the Ring to the shinobi.

The whole team recoiled. "Are you mad?" cried Kakashi. "We cannot take the thing that decides whether your world lives or dies!"

Frodo looked crushed, but still hopeful. "Why, why can't you?" he pleaded.

"We do not belong in this world, Frodo," Minato said gently, his voice sorrowful. "We are not tempted by it, which makes us capable of wielding it."

Seeing Frodo slip into despair, he added:

"I might be able to seal it in a scroll," The Yellow Flash was about to take out a scroll when a voice interrupted his search.

"Don't bother Sensei. Not even a seal made for a bijuu would keep the One Ring in place."

They turned to see Hoshi walking toward them, his eyes averted.

"How did your meeting go, Hoshi-san?" asked Rin.

The child pulled a face. "I believe that she broke two ribs with that hug of hers. She also kissed me on the forehead,"

The stunned looks on Legolas' and Aragorn's faces were priceless.

"She hugged you?" They said in unison. Obito laughed.

"That sounds like my Grandmother. Oi, Sensei. Remember Aki-baa-sama?"

Minato shuddered. Instead of answering Obito, he turned to Hoshi.

"Why can we not seal the Ring? We could use your kettle and seal it with the _Oni_ blood,"

Hoshi shook his head. "It would just eat the seal. The only thing that we could think to use as the seal is elf blood. But we would need a constant supply, and I do like Legolas very much."

Minato nodded in understanding. It was clear that the yellow-haired shinobi wanted to help the hobbit, but couldn't find a way to do so.

"Hoshi, have you seen the Ring?" asked Obito, dragging his foster brother toward Frodo.

The tall boy pulled away as soon as he could. Legolas shuddered at the fierce expression on the child's face

"Do not tempt me, Obito!" he snarled, his hands covering his ears. "It keeps whispering to me, and I dare not listen to it anymore. Hide it, Mr. Baggins; hide it before I take it!"

The Ringbearer quickly stuffed the malevolent piece of jewelry into his shirt. Hoshi was still clutching his ears, but his angry expression had vanished. Rin looked concerned, putting a hand on her teammate's shoulder.

Kakashi shrugged. "He'll get better. I presume that we have a boat to catch?"

The gift-giving ceremony came as a bit of a surprise to everyone. The Fellowship and the shinobi were both given elven cloaks, which blended in with the surroundings. The shinobi were immensely pleased with them, trying out the cloaks against the trees and ground. While Lady Galadriel could not think of a gift for the five, they ended up giving Lothlorien something in return.

"These scrolls are a token of our friendship," Minato presented a basket of red scrolls before the Lady of the Light. "In the case that any our allies approach any of your border guard, have them show it to our fellows. Then they will stand down, instead of doing any harm. It would grieve me to learn that any of your people were hurt on our behalf," The shinobi bowed low, as did the rest of the team.

Galadriel smiled at them. "I thank you for your concern. I will see that our border guard is stocked with these scrolls,"

The group grinned back. They watched as Legolas was given a new bow, and Merry and Pippin presented with daggers. They saw that Sam was given seeds and a box of dirt, as well as elven rope. Gimli requested a strand of Lady Galadriel's hair, something Obito found amusing. Boromir was not given anything in particular, which seemed to annoy Hoshi. All five were intrigued by Frodo's light-in-a bottle.

"Is it a liquid or a gas?" Kakashi whispered into Hoshi's pointed ear.

"It's starlight," he grumbled, not bothering to look at his confused teammate.

When Galadriel approached Aragorn, the entire team strained their ears to overhear what was clearly a private conversation. The other members of the Fellowship seemed to notice what was going on, but none of them did any more than hide their amused smiles.

"Who's Arwen Evenstar?" asked Minato in his native language.

Hoshi gave him a befuddled look and responded in turn.

"I thought you had to speak in Westron because of the seal,"

Minato gave his student a boyish smile. "It's the _Oni _blood. It allo-"

"Do you want an answer or not?" he said with a scowl, cutting off his teacher.

Minato gave his student "the Look". "Know your place, boy," he said with deadly calm.

Hoshi shuddered as he climbed into the boat and grabbed the oar. Obito and Rin also climbed into the delicate vessel. Minato and Kakashi stood alongside to boat.

"Alright, let's get going," the jōnin-sensei said cheerfully. Before he could grab the boat, Kakashi stopped him.

"I think that it would be wiser to allow Hoshi to paddle out of sight before we go with your plan," he said, as a relieved Hoshi rowed away in a dignified manner.

Minato looked a little put out. "Alright. But then you have to get in the boat, too,"

The Hatake turned green.

Aragorn was hoping for some peace on the river. There was much to think about, and he needed to organize his thoughts. While some concerned the orcs on the eastern shore, most consisted of a certain elf. He deeply regretted telling her to go to Valinor. Aragorn wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. However, there was a selfish part of him that wish for her to be happy alongside him. But peace was cruelly denied to him in the form of five foreigners.

_WAHOOO!_

He, Sam and Frodo were splashed as a yellow and beige blur streaked past them. The Dúnedain wanted to scream. He had given up telling them to be quiet hours ago. Boromir paddled up beside him.

"It's a wonder that we haven't been spotted by orcs for all the racket they are making," he grumbled.

Aragorn pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have warned them multiple times about that. But every time they respond that everything is alright,"

_~Splash!~_

The two men jumped. Merry and Pippin were at the front of their boat, as were Sam and Frodo.

"What was that?" asked Boromir, his eyes scanning the surface of the river. Legolas pulled up his boat next to Aragorn's.

"I believe," said the elf. "That Hoshi jumped overboard,"

Right on cue, Hoshi's head broke to the surface. Sputtering and gasping, he pulled himself up on the river.

"Hoshi! Are you okay?" they heard Obito yell. The shinobi were so far ahead that they were mere specks in the distance.

"I am half-drowned and my clothes are soaked. Yes, I'm. Just. _Peachy_," he bellowed back.

Legolas flinched at how loud the child was. Hoshi was shaking with either anger or chills.

Aragorn heard one of the shinobi yell back to the boy in their strange language. The ranger decided that the boy had incredibly good hearing to understand what was being said.

The soaked child sighed and turned to Legolas and Gimli.

"Is it alright if I join your boat? Minato-sensei and the rest of the team are going to go on land and scout the place out,"

Legolas nodded and Gimli gave Hoshi a smile.

"Of course, laddie. Hop right in!" the dwarf said cheerfully.

Aragorn was uneasy. "Why are you not going with them?" he asked as the tall boy got in the boat.

Hoshi just about flinched when asked the question. After a long pause, he responded.

"I was told to keep an eye on you all, just in case," he was avoiding eye contact.

Aragorn was losing patience with the boy. "Look me in the eye and tell me that is true," he just about snarled. Hoshi looked up, his grey eyes meeting Aragorn's

"I swear upon my honor that what I told you is true,"

Aragorn did not want to trust the child, who was clearly hiding something. But Hoshi had not done anything to display his untrustworthiness.

The ranger broke eye contact with the boy and paddled away. As he did so, he heard Hoshi singing.

_"Upon the hearth the fire is red, _

_Beneath the roof there is a bed; _

_But not yet weary are our feet, _

_Still round the corner we may meet..."_

The words faded as they paddled further away from Legolas and Gimli. Boromir kept up with the agitated Aragorn so the hobbits could talk.

"Did you hear that?" Pippin said excitedly. "Hoshi knows the Travelling Song!"

Frodo was about to reply before Aragorn cut in.

"I do not care if he knows the Lay of Luthain," he said calmly, with a hint of anger. "I would not trust him as far as I can throw him,"

The ranger quickly pulled ahead. Boromir let him go.

"I wonder what's gotten to him," murmured Boromir. "He never showed such animosity to Hoshi before,"

"That is true," Merry said thoughtfully. "But then again, Hoshi always avoided Strider when he could."

The Gondorian sighed. He hoped things would sort out soon. There was a darkness lingering in his mind. He wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible.


	15. Chapter 14

**Thank You HeWhoWatchesFromTheMist for reviewing! Glad that you are continuing to read. **

**Sorry for the length.**

**But I would like the let you awesome people know that I will be unable to Update on Friday. I got tickets to see ****The Merchant of Venice.**** So I don't have time to update. Thank You for understanding, and please review if so motivated.**

Obito sighed. He was going to miss the Golden Wood. The people were nice and the food wasn't half bad. The Uchiha leaned against the edge of the boat, trailing his hand in the water. The current was strong, pulling the boat downstream. All Hoshi was doing was steering.

"It's so peaceful," Rin said with a smile. Obito inhaled deeply as a breeze blew. The boy suddenly gagged. Instead of smelling flowers, earth, whatnot; a sour, metallic scent invaded his nostrils.

"You smell it too," said Hoshi. Both Rin and Obito looked at their companion.

"Smell what?" asked Kakashi, running alongside the vessel.

"Uruk-hai," he answered calmly. His three teammates exchanged looks.

"What are Oorook-yes?" Obito asked, befuddled.

Hoshi gave him an irritated look. "It's _Uruk-_**hai**, not Oorook-yes,"

Now it was Rin giving Hoshi an odd look. "_Hai _is yes,"

The tall boy promptly protested. "No it isn't-!"

"Yes, it is," Kakashi said calmly, cutting his annoyed teammate off. "Honestly Hoshi, I thought you had a brain inside your skull,"

"HAI DOESN'T MEAN YES IN MIDDLE EARTH!" he roared, scaring some birds out of the trees.

Then an eerie quiet descended upon the group. Obito looked to see the Fellowship staring at them. Hoshi was beet red, standing up in the back of the boat. The tension in the air was becoming so thick he could taste it. Obito immediately decided that tension tasted terrible.

"Ah, Hoshi," the team turned to see Minato-sensei running toward them. "Would you mind going onshore and 'scouting'? There is a bad smell coming from about two miles deep, parallel to the river. Could you negate it, please?"

Hoshi blinked. "I'm sure that Kakashi would like to go instead-," he tried.

Their teacher gave Hoshi 'the Look'. "Face your fears and they will go away. Besides, I promised to give Kakashi a ride," he finished with a brilliant smile.

The Hatake turned green. "At least I won't have Mr. Long-legs here crowding up the back," he mumbled. Obito laughed as his foster brother became tomato red.

"Don't blame me," he grumbled as he climbed out of the boat. "As you have seen, my _Adar_ is by no means short,"

"True," Obito mumbled as Hoshi ran off into the trees. The Uchiha was then literally shocked in to sitting up by Kakashi.

"What the hell?" he hissed. Kakashi pointed to where Minato-sensei was standing, behind the boat. Obito looked forward, noticing that Rin was tightly clinging onto the sides of the vessel.

"Ready, Set," Obito quickly grabbed onto the edges of the boat. "...Go!" cried Minato, zooming forward.

Eldarion jumped through the trees, his senses on high alert. It was easy enough to track Saruman's beasts by scent. The rotten stench clung to the wind, weighing down the surrounding air. His pointed ear involuntarily twitched when it picked up the grunts of the Uruk-hai and the pounding of their many feet. Eldarion still had a mile to go to reach their position.

_"A mile too close,"_ he thought. The boy fought to suppress a tremor that racked through his boy. Eldarion shook his head violently.

"You can do this, Eldarion Telcontar. You have the blood of Kings and elves, you will be fine," he whispered to himself before jumping over to the next branch.

Several minutes later, it took every bit of his strength to not flee in terror as the Uruk-hai approached the tree which he was standing in.

_"Let's just get this over with,"_ he thought as he ran through the hand signals for Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings (a C-rank genjutsu). He was surprised by the lack of resistance presented by the minds of the more-intelligent Uruk-hai.

The prince of Gondor ran through his options. _"Okay, now I could do a chasm, a wall of rock, or a hobbit," _when the leader gave a growl, he quickly made his decision.

"A chasm it is," Eldarion muttered fearfully, completing the genjutsu.

It was entertaining to see the Uruk-hai stop short and mill around in confusion. But he had work to do while the illusion bought him some time. He created a shadow clone, which gave him a look.

"What?" he hissed, unnerved. The other him glared at his original before speaking.

"Do you realize that the clone you created _weeks _before is still lost?" It scolded.

Eldarion hit his hand against his forehead. "Shoot, I knew I forgot about something,"

His clone shook his head. "Shame on you. Now what do you want for me to do?" he asked.

Eldarion gestured to the fugly creatures. "Keep the genjutsu on them for as long as possible. If they break it, kill as many as possible without the leader noticing,"

The other him paled. "You want me to engage them when they break out?" he squeaked.

_"Is that how I look to Minato-sensei and the others?"_ thought Eldarion. _"It's a wonder I have their respect," _

An Uruk-hai slammed into the trunk of their tree, knocking itself out.

"You're a clone. You don't die," the tall boy pointed out before jumping on ahead.

When Hoshi finally emerged from the forest a half hour later, Minato promptly pulled his student into a hug.

"Congratulations, Hoshi-kun. Never in my life have I seen someone set so many traps over such a long stretch!"

The crushed boy wheezed in response, unable to breathe. The Yellow Flash put the lanky boy into the boat.

"You need more muscle, Hoshi," he cheerfully commented. The child in question scowled.

"What about Kakashi or Obito? They are just as thin as me," Hoshi gestured to the snoring Uchiha and the green Hatake.

"Well," Rin started with an apologetic smile. "You are taller than them by quite a bit, so being thin at their height is not the same as being thin at your height,"

Hoshi gave the medic a mock hurt look. "Who's side are you on?" he asked.

Minato laughed and gently pushed the boat forward.

"So what are the upcoming events, Hoshi-kun?" he asked. The tall boy gave him a sad look.

"In a few days, Boromir will succumb to the lure of the Ring and attempt to take it from Frodo. The Uruk-hai will arrive, looking for Frodo. The result of the battle is the death of Boromir, the capture of Merry and Pippin by the Uruks and the scattering of the Fellowship," Hoshi's voice was barely above a whisper when he ended.

Minato had a thoughtful look on his face. "So should we save Boromir?" he asked. The boy's eyes widened in horror.

_"Denethor's madness,_

_His death by fire cleared_

_the path of the King."_

Rin gave Hoshi a false smile. "I take that as a no," she said, her face falling a bit.

Kakashi was looking much better, now that they weren't speeding along.

"Why does he want the Ring anyway?" he asked, looking at the Gondorian.

Hoshi paused for a bit before responding. "He and the rest of his family are under the impression that the Ring will save Gondor. As of now, it is besieged by Mordor and its allies. The people are beginning to lose hope,"

Minato sighed. "It is tragic. But I think thinning the ranks of the fugly _Onis_ wouldn't change the course of history, not too much at least,"

Obito gave a loud snore and punched the air. "Let's give them Hell!" he slurred half-heartedly. Hoshi laughed. "We can thin the ranks later, I don't think that they've broken out of the genjutsu yet,"

An hour after having the discussion, Eldarion was unceremoniously tossed off the boat while Sensei was doing one of his runs. The whole team was incredibly lucky that he waterproofed his armguards, or otherwise the river will be blue and red.

Gasping, the half-drowned boy pulled himself up onto the river.

"Hoshi! Are you okay?" Obito yelled. Despite seeing red, the honorary Uchiha knew that Obito was being genuine in his concern. The others, however...

"I am half-drowned and my clothes are soaked. Yes, I'm. Just. Peachy!" he screamed as loudly as possible.

Eldarion grit his teeth as he heard Kakashi's snickering. He could just make out Sensei's grin.

"Remember," the jōnin yelled in his native language. "You have to keep them off the land until we return, Okay?"

His team left without another word. Sighing, he turned to the Fellowship while addressing Legolas and Gimli.

"Is it alright if I join your boat? Minato-sensei and the rest of the team are going to go on land and scout the place out,"

Legolas nodded his consent and Gimli gave him a friendly grin.

"Of course, laddie. Hop right in!" he said cheerfully.

Eldarion gave the generous dwarf a weak smile in return. At the moment he was feeling rather useless and weak.

"Why are you not going with them?" he heard Aragorn say.

Eldarion nearly flinched._ "Because they think that I cannot stomach it,"_ he thought bitterly.

It seemed that his entire team thought that he couldn't kill the Uruk-hai. That everyone thought that he was a coward just for that one incident... Well, it seemed that Aragorn thought he should be going along.

"I was told to keep an eye on you all, just in case," he responded. The tall child was not in the mood to look at anyone. He nearly jumped when he heard _Ada's_ voice.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that is true," the adult said in a quiet snarl.

Eldarion cursed himself internally for not realizing that the Chief of the Dúnedain clearly distrusted him.

_"No unconditional love from him yet, 'Dari," _he thought darkly.

Composing himself mentally, Eldarion looked up into his father's eyes.

"I swear upon my honor that what I told you is true," he said clearly.

After a minute, Aragorn broke eye contact, satisfied that he was telling the truth. Eldarion couldn't lie, saying that his' father's inherent distrust did not hurt. He was also hurting from last afternoon. It was Boromir who comforted him, not Aragorn.

Inhaling deeply (and nearly gagging due to the Uruk-hai), he began to sing.

_"Upon the hearth the fire is red,_

_Beneath the roof there is a bed;_

_But not yet weary are our feet,_

_Still round the corner we may meet..."_

"Did you hear that?" Eldarion heard Pippin say. "Hoshi knows the Travelling Song!"

That brought a smile to his face. It was Pippin who taught him the song. But the next words he heard wiped the smile off his pale face.

"I do not care if he knows the Lay of Luthain," Aragorn said, his voice hinting of anger. "I would not trust him as far as I can throw him,"

_"A sudden tree or standing stone _

_That none have seen but we alone. _

_Tree and flower, leaf and grass, _

_Let them pass! Let them pass!..."_

It was a pity, really. Eldarion believed that he knew the Lay quite well. He was also sure that his _Ada _could throw him quite far.

_"Hill and water under sky,_

_Pass them by! Pass them by!"_


	16. Chapter 15

**AN:**

**Thank You Purple Pallbearer for reviewing! No need to apologize :D. **

**I nearly hit a writer's block on this chapter, so I apologize if it is poorly written. Yes, this is basically another boring chapter. If any of you have suggestions, don't hesitate to review!**

Legolas felt uneasy, despite the lack of danger presented to him. It might have been because Hoshi began singing the Lay of Luthien at the top of his lungs in Sindrian. It was clear he did so to annoy Estel. But it seemed to have failed, as the Dúnedain joined in on the second stanza. But it did not seem to bother the child, as he switched from solo to duet. If anything, Hoshi appeared to be delighted. Legolas rowed the boat up to Aragorn's, so the odd child wouldn't have to shout. They sang for several minutes, until Hoshi abruptly stopped mid-verse. Aragorn continued to the end of the stanza, before turning to face the silent child.

"Why did you stop?" he asked kindly.

Hoshi blushed with shame. "My knowledge of the Lay ended there. Try as I might, I never seem to remember past that verse,"

Aragorn nodded in understanding.

"Who taught you Sindarian?" asked Legolas. He was curious as to where Hoshi learned the language.

"My parents," he answered smoothly. The boy removed his cloak. Holding it over the river, he wrung the damp object out.

"And who are your parents?" Aragorn asked. It was clear that he had wanted to ask this question for some time.

Not looking up from his task, Hoshi replied:

"It is my firm belief that you should not judge a child by their parents,"

Legolas raised an eyebrow. He wondered just who Hoshi's parents were.

"Besides, I am from another Age. Knowing who sired me and who gave birth to me won't make a difference," the boy pointed out.

The elf had to admire Hoshi's skill in dodging questions. The stranger willingly answered their questions. However, none of his answers were straight.

"Where are you from?" asked Sam.

Hoshi responded immediately. "Gondor," he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Legolas was confused. "Gondor? You don't look Gondorian,"

The boy removed the headband that all the shinobi wore. He started to braid back the sides of his dark, wavy hair.

"Both of my parents hail from the North," he responded.

Aragorn frowned. "Where in the North?"

Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "Is this an interrogation?" he asked.

Gimli laughed. "Tell me Hoshi, do you know any dwarves?" he said, deciding to join in on the fun.

The boy gave him a wide smile. "While I do not know many, the few I do know have always been pleasant to me,"

"Do you know any Hobbits?" asked Pippin, as Boromir guided his boat next to Legolas'.

"My father is good friends with three of them. My sister and I always look forward to their visits,"

Aragorn looked like he was going to ask Hoshi another question before a voice cut through the air.

"Hoshi! We have a change of clothes for you!"

It was Rin, waving cheerfully from the riverbank further downstream. The tall child leaped out of the boat, tearing across the water to go change his clothes.

"I think that it would be wise to stop there and stretch our legs," said Boromir. The man turned to the _de facto_ leader of the Fellowship. "What say you, Aragorn?"

Aragorn nodded. "Agreed, Boromir. We have been sitting in these boats for some time. We have the rest of the day ahead,"

As Aragorn paddled toward shore, Frodo leaned toward Sam.

"Am I the only one who noticed that Hoshi's ears are pointed?" he whispered.

His loyal gardener shrugged. "I saw them, Mr. Frodo. But I don't think Strider did,"

Rin was glad to be back on the River. The Uruk-hai were terrifying, and smelly. It also took a long time to drain them of their blood. Out of the thirty-some of the fugly things, Minato-sensei Kakashi, and Obito suffocated ten of them. And they couldn't return to the riverbank to drain the blood, as the Fellowship couldn't know about the Uruks until later.

"I still fail to see what is so awesome about this black blood," said Obito when they were at the riverbank. Hoshi nodded in agreement, drying by Sam's cooking fire.

Rin groaned, as did Kakashi. Minato flashed the two Uchihas a malicious grin.

"_Oni_ blood is filled with chakra. The chakra is lying in a dormant state, allowing the blood to act normally. However, when chakra is run through the blood when it is written out as a seal, the native chakra activates. Because of that, it takes less chakra to make a seal work, and the seal is a lot stronger due to amount of native chakra already in it,"

Rin and Kakashi were surprised (and annoyed) that the Hoshi and Obito got the abridged explanation. They had to suffer through the long winded ode their teacher composed to _Oni_ blood.

"What would happen if you ran chakra through the blood when it is not written out?" asked Hoshi.

Minato frowned. "That is a good question. Orochimaru-sama probably knows that answer. I will have to look into that,"

Rin noticed that the Fellowship was giving them strange looks.

"Excuse me, Miss Rin," she looked up to see Sam. "But Mr. Frodo and I are both wondering what chakra is,"

Rin did not know how to answer. "Umm, chakra is a mix of physical energy and spiritual energy," she said.

Both Hobbits looked even more confused.

Rin turned to Hoshi. "Could you help me explain chakra to Frodo and Sam?" she asked.

The boy raised a dark eyebrow. "Remember how long it took for me to understand the simple concept of cells?" he pointed out while unwrapping a piece of bread.

"How is it difficult to understand cells?" asked Pippin, listening in to their conversation. "They are a place to store things, like food and beer."

"Not that kind of cells, Pippin-san," Rin replied gently.

"What do cellars have to do with chakra?" asked Frodo.

Hoshi had eaten two thirds of his bread before wrapping it up again.

"Nothing, Frodo. It refers to the makeup of a living thing, in your case, a hobbit."

A look of understanding flickered in the Ringbearer's eyes.

"So, cells are like building blocks for a living thing?" he asked.

Rin noted that the rest of the Fellowship had quietly settled down to listen.

"Yes. They are very, very small so you can't see them. Your skin is made out of them; your bones are made out of them,"

"Are they all the same?" asked Aragorn. Hoshi looked to Rin.

"Not quite," she said. "Just like there are different building materials, there are different types of cells. Like bone cells, brain cells, and skin cells,"

"Does chakra come from them?" asked Sam.

"Part of chakra, physical energy, comes from them," Rin answered.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Then where," asked Legolas. "does spiritual energy come from?"

Hoshi twitched his ear, and began rubbing it thoughtfully.

"I was told that it comes from exercise and personal experience,"

This time he turned to Kakashi, who nodded thoughtfully.

"You combine the two, molding it through hand seals," he put his hands in the tiger seal. "to execute a technique." he henged himself into Obito, who had just fallen asleep.

Aragorn had a look of understanding on his face. "Is that why you train so young, so you could use chakra?" he asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Once someone hits puberty, they lose the ability to access chakra,"

"And also so they become more disciplined," added Minato.

Boromir frowned. "What exactly do you mean by disciplined?" he asked.

Before Minato could answer, Hoshi intervened. "When you put extreme power in somebody's hands, you have to put down some rules. Shinobi are given a guideline on how to act. Kakashi here could tell you a few. He's memorized the entire handbook,"

The Hatake glared at him before starting. "Some rules are simple, such as ''Look underneath the underneath.'' and ''Prepare before it is too late to,''. Others are ''Never question your commander.'' and ''Always put the mission first,''. Shinobi rule number 25 is "Never show emotion.","

Legolas looked troubled. "Never show emotion? Why?"

None of the team responded at first. It was Minato who spoke.

"While shinobi are able to perform many tasks, the one we are most recognized for is assassination. The rules guide a shinobi toward extinguishing their emotions. I have seen many a shinobi lose control of their emotions, only to kill themselves and many others in the process,"

The entire Fellowship was silent. Then Hoshi spoke.

"It is better in Konoha than in Kiri. I heard that they force students to battle each other to the death in order to become a shinobi,"

Minato cuffed the boy on the back of the head. "Don't spread rumors, Hoshi,"

Rin did not like the looks the Hobbits were giving them. Boromir and Legolas had identical looks of pity and disgust. Aragorn appeared to be struggling to be neutral. Only Gimli's opinion seemed to be unchanged.

"Are there any orcs around?" he asked.

Much to everyone's' surprise, Obito responded.

"There were a couple, but we took care of them. And shouldn't we get going?"

The Uchiha's ending statement seemed to snap Aragorn to attention.

"Obito is correct. We have lingered here for too long,"

Immediately Sam put out his cooking fire and packed up his cooking supplies. Rin was a bit bemused, wondering when the hobbits ate.

"Rin!" called Obito from the boat. She realized that she was the only one left onshore.

"Coming!" she yelled back, running over to her team.

When she got in the boat, she saw a scroll left on the riverbank.

Kakashi seemed to notice it too. "Leave it," he said before she went to retrieve the item. "It's a Tracking scroll. Susano'o planted it on us back at home,"

Rin scowled at him. "But that means that there is a life line! We could contact the village and-"

Kakashi raised his hand, stopping her.

"It died around an hour ago. It was the right thing to leave it behind,"

Rin sighed sadly. "Do you think that someone will come after us?"

Kakashi nodded. "I would say so,"

She turned to face the horizon. "Who do you think would come?"

Kakashi's face turned into a grimace. "I can only pray that it won't be _that_ team,"


	17. Chapter 16

**AN****:**

**Thank you DreamingIn2Eternity, Anonymous Reviewer and...Deadzepplin for your reviews!**

**Deadzepplin: While I appriciate your enthusiasm, Uzamaki Naruto is not, and never will be, in this story. It would be cool to see Naruto fight against a Nazgul (more his level), though not in this story. Minato will get around to killing armies, just be patient. But there will be a character that uses wind techniques in the future that enjoys killing... On an unrelated note, ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY LOG.**

**No update Friday, sorry guys/gals**

_*Japanese*_

_Elvish_

Gimli did not see what the big deal was. The shinobi were fighters, and they did possess an insane amount of power. Their rules prevented them from letting their emotions get in the way of making logical decisions. But the elf did not seem to understand that.

"How barbaric! First they force children to fight, but then have them kill their emotions?" Legolas scoffed, as he talked to Boromir. "Honestly, they are as nearly as bad as orcs,"

Gimli knew that Legolas and the others had been suspicious of the students' ability in combat. But they seemed to be fine with it before. Now, the other members of the Fellowship were being biased and ignorant. It had to stop.

"For the last time, princeling, does it look that they killed their emotions?" the dwarf snapped.

Legolas went silent. Boromir responded cautiously.

"I believe that is not the case at the present time, however, it would be their ultimate goal,"

It pleased Gimli to see that the man was somewhat seeing sense.

"It seems to only be necessary in combat," continued Boromir. "But it is not their presumed lack of emotion that worries me."

"What then worries you, my friend?" Gimli asked, confused.

"Their loyalty is bought and sold. I wonder how much the Enemy is willing to pay them to purchase their favor,"

Much to everyone's surprise, Merry jumped into the conversation.

"They won't betray us. Hoshi's fate appears to be more entwined with us than Frodo originally thought. And his team will never turn against him, because they are from the same village. A Konoha shinobi's true loyalty lies within their village," he finished.

Boromir looked assured, but Legolas was still agitated.

"But they are just children! I understand that they need to learn how to access this 'chakra'. But they shouldn't be on the battlefield,"

Gimli sighed. "Theoretically, shinobi of their rank are given simple, non-combatant tasks. But according to Obito, there aren't as many shinobi as before. Also, Kakashi is in a higher rank than the rest of his teammates. Logically, the team will be given missions that they would be able to complete,"

The elf seemed to finally accept it. But he turned to Merry with a troubled look on his face.

"Merry," he asked. "What do you mean when said Frodo thought Hoshi's fate was entwined with ours?"

The hobbit frowned. "Frodo thinks that Hoshi is from the Fourth Age," he said.

Boromir was bewildered. "The Fourth Age? Now why would Frodo think that?"

Pippin, who was lying down in the boat, answered.

"He said that the Ring always lessened his pull on him whenever Hoshi was around. Frodo also said that Hoshi always whispered things. All save one were in Elvish. It went like this..."

~•~•~•~

"Trust Smeagol, that wretched thing.

Trust Samwise, a true loyal friend.

To Mt. Doom you'll take the Ring,

To the West you'll go in the end."

Frodo recited Hoshi's prediction for Strider. It was his firm belief that Hoshi came from the Fourth Age. The tall man was silent, thinking.

Just as Frodo thought that Aragorn had ignored him, the ranger spoke.

"That does not mean that he is from the Fourth Age, Frodo," he said quietly. The hobbit felt his eye twitch.

"Why not?" asked Sam, who looked offended.

"Just how much time has he spent with the shinobi? It is quite possible that he is from an earlier time period, and ended up here."

"A Gondorian boy with Northern parents who entered another world in Harad. He is, indeed, from an earlier age," Frodo said sarcastically.

Aragorn did not seemed to be bothered by the hobbit's stab at his theory.

"It is quite possible that he is one of my kin, the Dúnedain," he pointed out. "I do know of several who live in the South,"

Sam did not look convinced. "I don't know, Mr. Strider. He looks more like an elf to me,"

The ranger raised an eyebrow. "Does he really?" he murmured, turning to look at the child in question.

Hoshi and the other strangers appeared to be playing a card game. It seemed that Minato and Obito were losing and Hoshi was winning. Kakashi was in the middle, while Rin guided the boat. Hoshi had braided his hair back in a manner quite similar to Legolas'. However, it wrapped around his head, like a circlet. Because of the way his hair was braided, his delicate, pointed ears were plainly displayed. Frodo had noted that Hoshi moved rather gracefully, and there was an ethereal feel to the boy. But Hoshi was unmistakably human, in his manners and actions.

Frodo was snapped out of his observation when Obito suddenly stood up. The boy's face was bright red as he began singing.

_"I'm a little teapot, short and stout._

_Here is my handle, here is my spout._

_When I get all steamed up, here me shout_

_Just tip me over and pour me out!"_

Frodo was doing his best not to crack up. Between the gestures and the silly lyrics, the hobbit had to stuff a fist in his mouth to keep from laughing. He turned to see Strider shaking with suppressed laughter. The man even went as far to stuff the edge of his cloak in his mouth to stifle his amusement. The rest of the Fellowship appeared to be in the same dilemma. Legolas and Gimli were the most successful while Merry and Pippin were the least. Frodo remembered the earlier discussion that the Fellowship had concerning the shinobi. The hobbit shook his head. If these shinobi didn't have emotions, than the One Ring was a harmless trinket.

By the time the Fellowship set up camp for the night, most of the distrust of the shinobi had disappeared, returning the dynamic to normal. When Aragorn offered to take first watch, Hoshi asked if he could stay up as well. The ranger felt slightly uneasy about having the boy stay up with him, but consented. It seemed to surprise the shinobi on how quickly the day turned to night.

"It really gets dark here, doesn't it," commented Kakashi after dinner. Sam nodded in agreement. Dinner had consisted of Lembas bread and deer meat. The team of shinobi refused to let Hoshi preform his shift unless he brought them some meat. Sometime after he was commissioned the task, the boy returned with a charred deer carcass. The shinobi didn't give it a second thought, skinning the deer to find slightly cooked meat.

Aragorn thought the shinobi way of eating things was strange. They ate using two sticks to pick up their food, rarely using their hands. He noted that all the shinobi (bar Hoshi) steered clear of Lembas bread.

"Yes, but the stars are beautiful," said Rin whimsically. Minato looked skyward.

"So your world has an Evening star, too," he said. Kakashi snorted.

"You are aware that the Evening star is simply a reflection of the Morning star? And that neither are real stars?" The Hatake said in a condescending tone.

Aragorn had to remind himself that the masked child was ignorant and unaware of the comparisons he was making in order to keep himself from strangling the boy. But Hoshi seemed to do that for him.

"Okay, Mr. Astronomer, we get that you think that the Evening star is a pale reflection of the Morning star. Go ahead and insult the poor thing," he growled, picking up his canteen.

Kakashi threw his hands into the air. "Okay, jeez. Sorry for insulting your girlfriend,"

Aragorn and Legolas choked on their food. Hoshi spat out the water he was drinking, and grabbed Kakashi by the collar.

_*"What the Hell, you idiot! There is an actual person called Arwen Evenstar or the Evening star!"* _He screamed in their language, shaking his teammate. Aragorn heard Arwen's name mentioned.

"Your point?" the silver-haired boy mumbled.

_*"She's Aragorn's fiancée,"* _Hoshi hissed. *_"My MOTHER!"*_

Aragorn decided that his name sounded strange, being said in that language. He saw Kakashi's eyes go wide. What the ranger could see of his face turned slightly green.

"Oh," he squeaked. Hoshi had stood up somewhere along the line, suspending the short boy in the air by his collar. The dark-haired boy put him down carefully. Kakashi rubbed his throat, and then smirked at him.

"That really doesn't change anything I just said,"

Hoshi simply punched his teammate in the stomach.

Aragorn was in a foul mood. His argument with Boromir had thrown him for a loop. Was he really afraid of what he was as a human? But he knew that it would not be a wise decision to bring the Ring to Minas Tirith. Aragorn turned to check on Hoshi, who was humming.

"That tune is strange," he found himself saying. Hoshi gave him a smile.

"It's from a song I heard in Konoha," the child strolled over to him. "I would not be able to do it justice, for it needs an instrument to be played alongside it,"

"Really?" Aragorn raised an eyebrow. "That is strange,"

Hoshi laughed. "Their songs are all like that. The music that goes with it is loud, very loud."

Aragorn gave the boy a small smile. Hoshi always seemed shy and unsure around him. Despite the child's previous declaration of being unable to sing the song well, he began singing softly anyway.

_"Omae ga tonari ni iru_

_Omae ga waratteiru_

_Omae ga ureshi soude _

_ore mo waratta,"_ *

Hoshi paused. "It's really not so bad, being human,"

_"That came out of nowhere,"_ Aragorn thought.

"Everyone has their own problems. Humans aren't really weak so much as susceptible to power," Hoshi continued. "Although sensei believes that you truly become powerful when you have something to protect,"

That statement struck a chord with the ranger. Hoshi seemed to realize that.

"Do you have something to protect?" he asked.

Aragorn inhaled deeply. "Yes, I do. And what about you?" he asked in return.

Hoshi ran his fingers along his ear. Aragorn suddenly noticed that it was pointed.

"Hmm. I have my friends, my family, friends of my family, a whole bunch of people really," he murmured.

Silence pervaded the air for a minute before Aragorn decided to break it.

"Why did your friend call the Evening star your...girlfriend?" he asked, rather uncertain with the term.

Hoshi's pale face flushed in the dark. "When we first met, I was lost in a desert and the only familiar thing to me was the Evening Star. So they found me as the sun was setting staring at the stars. I did this every night, so they asked me if I was in love with Evening star. Because I stared at the stars so often, they called me Hoshi or star,"

_"Star,"_ he thought. The name was fitting for the child, who seemed to emit a dim glow. Hoshi looked into the Dúnedain's eyes. His grey eyes were like crystals with flecks of sapphire, filled with curiosity and reservation.

"Did you not give Minato, Kakashi, Rin or Obito your name?" Aragorn asked.

Hoshi laughed. "That was the very first thing I said to them! It is a pity they cannot pronounce it,"

Aragorn was intrigued. "What is your given name?" he asked.

Hoshi promptly looked up to the moon. "It is of no importance," he said politely, but sharply. Aragorn sighed. A name often revealed a lot about a person. He should know, having no less than three. Hoshi was on his guard, so he wouldn't get anymore information from the boy tonight.

Hoshi yawned. "Do you think I could go to sleep?" he asked sheepishly, looking slightly fearful.

"Yes, you may, Hoshi," Aragorn said absently, staring at the river.

"Thank you, Ad-Aragorn," Hoshi said. "Goodnight,"

The boy walked over to his teammates, rolled out a bedroll and fell asleep.

The ranger shook his head slightly. He must have been hearing things incorrectly, but he swore that Hoshi was about to call him _Ada_.

***Naruto Shippuden ending 11: Omae Dattanda**


	18. Chapter 17

**AN****:**

**I have failed you all. No updates for two days. Yesterday would have been an update day, but a friend was over and **_**Return of the King **_**was on...**

**I digress.**

**Thank You Deadzepplin for the favorite! Sorry for not including it in last update.**

**Thank You Purple Pallbearer and DreamingIn2Eternity for the reviews!**

**To DreamingIn2Eternity: Thank you! That is how I depict them to be, more or less.**

**To Purple Pallbearer: This update must be one heck of a trolling then. I would have written it in, but I lost steam. I am more of a comedy reader, so my writing will never be really serious. Stupidly dramatic or almost angsty, yes. Serious, no.**

**Side note: As you can see, Two Towers is coming up. One of the things that keeps me away from stories is the long amount of chapters under one title. So I am going to post anything in the Two Towers plot line under a Part 2 of this story. Hope you don't mind.**

**Sorry for the wait!**

_*Japanese*_

* * *

><p>The next morning was uneventful, barring the fact Hoshi refused to wake up.<p>

"C'mon Hoshi," said Obito, running an ink brush under the boy's nose. "Everyone has already eaten,"

Hoshi gave the Uchiha a growl for his efforts, and yanked the ink brush out of his hands. The short-haired boy shook his head.

"Hoshi sleeps like a hibernating bear," he absentmindedly declared. The boy received several looks for the comment.

"Excuse me, but what is a bear?" asked Pippin. Before Obito could respond, Aragorn answered the hobbit's question.

"It is a large, grumpy animal that lives in the far North and along the Misty Mountains. Bears are known to be heavy sleepers, and are fond of fish, deer, and berries." the ranger said while loading up the boat.

Obito snapped his fingers in realization.

"Ah Ha!" he cried, pulling down his goggles. He grabbed a smaller scroll from his foster brother's backpack. Releasing the first seal, Obito held a jar of honey in his hands.

Just as he was about to open it, a hand shot out and grabbed the jar. His dark eyes turned to see a bedraggled Hoshi giving him a bleary-eyed glare.

"Don't touch my honey," he said, his speech still slurred from sleep. Kakashi and Rin both stifled laughter.

"Well, good morning to you, too," Obito grumbled in mock offense. Minato waltzed over to his half-asleep student.

"It is good to see that you haven't died in your sleep yet, Hoshi-kun," he said cheerfully.

The boy wasn't able to reply, due to a large yawn. Minato smacked him affectionately on the back.

"You best get packing if you don't want to be left behind," he whispered into the boy's pointed ear. Patting Hoshi on the head, he walked off.

~•~•~•~

The day was one of fair weather, which pleased Kakashi immensely. The Hatake leaded back into the boat, staring up at the sky. The clouds were large and fluffy, and colored a non-threatening white. Hoshi was guiding the boat along, with Obito keeping his foster brother awake.

"Lovely day isn't it?" commented Minato-sensei. Kakashi found it odd that his teacher wanted to sit in the boat.

"Indeed," responded Hoshi, stifling a yawn. " 'Tis quite the pity that today is THE day,"

Rin nodded in mournful agreement. She then turned her dark eyes skyward.

"Look," she pointed at a cloud. "That looks like a bunny,"

Kakashi squinted. It did look like a bunny if you turned your head just so. But he wasn't so distracted as to not hear another boat pull up alongside theirs.

"What are you looking for?" asked a lilting voice.

_"Defiantly the elf,"_ thought Kakashi. He found their kind annoying for some reason, one he couldn't find.

"We're cloud gazing," answered Obito. "You look at the clouds and find a shape in them,"

"Ah,"

Kakashi found it strange that a nature loving creature such as an elf didn't cloud gaze.

Just as he was to close his eyes, he was suddenly shaken upright. Kakashi sat up, seeing that his teammates were still, looking east. Legolas was too, with a look of fear in his blue eyes.

"Do you feel that?" whispered Minato-sensei.

The Hatake closed his eyes, reaching out with his chakra. Then the feeling hit him. A solid wall a pure killing intent and malevolent intentions intercepted his probe. Kakashi immediately retreated, quickly opening his eyes. He was vaguely aware that he was covered in sweat.

_*"Hoshi and I are going to the eastern shore,"* _Sensei whispered in his ear. _*"You are in charge until we get back,"*_

Obito had grabbed the boat, while Hoshi took one of Sensei's kunai and ran toward the shore. As soon as his tall teammate disappeared into the woods, Minato-sensei _Hiraishin_-ed away.

Gimli didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was about.

"Just what are they doing?" the red-haired dwarf said, bewildered. "Don't they know that place is infested with orcs?"

Rin gave the dwarf a small smile. "They are going to exterminate the orcs and that big black thing, obviously,"

Legolas turned toward Rin in panic. "What big black thing?"

Obito pointed into the sky. "That thing," he said with a slight tremor in his voice.

Before Kakashi could even process the amount of malice emitting from the creature, Legolas shot it out from the sky.

Everyone, Fellowship and shinobi, was shaken. Rin had lost her chipper mood for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the sky.

"What on earth?" she whispered in horrified awe.

"Rin-san," Kakashi turned to his female teammate. "We are in Middle Earth,"

The petite brunette simply glared at him.

~•~•~•~

It was quite some time later before Minato-sensei and Hoshi rejoined the group. Running down the steep white cliffs that surrounded them, Rin quickly looked them over. Sensei was unscathed, but Hoshi suffered a cut on his cheek and several on his nose. Both were splattered in black blood.

"Status?" asked Kakashi as they approached them. Hoshi grinned.

"No survivors," he said triumphantly.

Rin was about to respond when something in the distance caught her eye. The great river was flanked by two tall statues, carved out of the white canyon walls. The great stone goliaths portrayed two men each with an arm outreached, as if to welcome or banish.

"The Gates of Argonath," she turned to see Aragorn, rowing beside them. "Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old, my kin,"

Rin was amazed at the sheer size of the statues, and the attention to detail.

"We have something similar to this back at home," she heard Minato-sensei say. Rin looked to see the look of interest on Aragorn's face.

"Like this," he continued. "There are the statues of two important leaders, but they are separated by a waterfall, not a river. They also face each other, before they do battle with one another,"

The tall man raised a eyebrow. Hoshi answered the unspoken question.

"The statues are a monument to a historical fight between the two founders of the Village of Konoha. It is found at the place of their battle," the boy let out another yawn.

Obito sighed, shaking his head. "The statues at home also are a lot smaller than the ones here,"

Hoshi nodded. "Just like how everyone in the Land of Fire is so bloody short," he muttered

While the hobbits seemed to find the tall, lanky boy's comment amusing, the male members of his team did not.

"Who are you calling short, you giraffe?" Obito cried out indignantly. Hoshi did not even flinch, despite the fact the his foster brother had yelled directly into his ear.

Minato had a hurt look on his face. "Am I really that short?" he asked.

Rin shook her head. Turning to Aragorn, she asked:

"Do you think that we are rather short?"

The brunette could see the ranger struggle to come up with an answer.

"Compared to Hoshi or myself, you and your team really is quite short,"

Immediately after he said that, Aragorn was nearly pegged with a rice ball. The man searched for the culprit, who happened to be Kakashi. Glaring at the Hatake, he said:

"I was comparing you to Hoshi or myself, not the entire populace of Middle Earth,"

Rin sighed. Height was such a stupid thing to be worrying about. There were larger threats to occupy one's mind with, and the medic decided to do just that.

~•~•~•~

Eldarion would be lying if he said he wasn't anxious when they landed on Amon Hen. Team 7 sat up in a few of the trees by the shore. They kept their eyes and ears peeled, listening to the Fellowship's travel plans.

Aragorn's plan of approaching Mordor from the north immediately came under fire from Gimli. None of his teammates looked keen on following the ranger's route either.

"Sharp rocks, than marshlands?" grumbled Minato-sensei. "Sounds like one of Mizu's many islands,"

Eldarion knew that his yellow-haired teacher had seen battle on one of the Water Country's many islands. He also knew that Kiri shinobi were some of the most ruthless shinobi out of the five nations. Anything that invoked memories of that place was bound to be upsetting to his teacher

"Would you rather the Ring pass right by many powerful men who could steal it and therefore spell our doom?" he replied, gently.

Minato-sensei shrugged. He pulled out some of his special kunai and a flask of orc blood. The teacher immediately began to work on his weapons.

Kakashi looked uneasy. "Hoshi, didn't you say that orcs prefer darkness?" he asked in a uncharacteristically loud voice.

Eldarion frowned, deep in thought. "It is quite rare that they come out in the sun, for light seems to hurt them," he answered.

Kakashi nodded. "If that is the case," he said loudly and slowly. "wouldn't walking in the dark give them an advantage? They are made for the dark, we aren't!"

"Fine! We'll cross at late noon!" yelled Aragorn with annoyance and with a touch of anger.

Eldarion turned to give his teammate a withering look. "Was that really necessary?" he asked.

Before the silver-haired boy could reply, Minato-sensei entered the conversation.

_*"No, that was not,"* _he said, shooting his student a look_. *"But I believe that now is the time to make ourselves scarce. Rin, Obito,"* _the other two perked up._ *"Kakashi and I will go the Eastern shore and kill any Oni we come across. You will say here,"* _

Eldarion nodded, knowing better than to argue. At least he had proven to Sensei earlier that he wasn't an utter coward. After he nodded, Minato-sensei and the rest of the team jumped to the ground. The jōnin turned and addressed Aragorn.

"We will go to the eastern shore and clear out the area of any _Oni_. We will return at high noon,"

Aragorn sighed and gave his consent to the 'mission'. The Dúnedain seemed to have accepted that the shinobi did their own thing.

"Hoshi stays with us, I presume?" he asked tiredly. The yellow flash gave him a sunny grin.

"You know us too well," he said, before running over to the eastern shore.

‡*‡*‡*‡*‡*‡

Eldarion rested in his tree. He had noticed Frodo walk off into the woods earlier. Boromir had followed the hobbit soon after. Eldarion did not mention it to anyone. It saddened him greatly, thinking of his friends fall. That was what Boromir had become, a friend.

_"He is exactly how Lord Faramir described him,"_ he thought.

"Hoshi," the dark-haired boy looked down to see Aragorn peering up at him. "Have you seen Boromir or Frodo?"

Eldarion climbed down to a lower branch. "What would you like to hear? That I have seen him and don't know where he went? Or that I haven't seen him and know where he is?"

The man gave him a venomous gaze. Eldarion faltered.

"He's up at Parth Galen," he muttered. "Boromir's going to try to take the Ring,"

The man's grey eyes widened with shock and disbelief. "You know this how?" he whispered warily, yet urgently.

"It wasn't exactly subtle, you know. Now go, don't waste your time on me!" Eldarion hissed.

His _Adar _gave him a warning look before taking off into the forest. The lanky boy sighed. He just had to wait for the Uruk-hai to show up before he could do anything.

~•~•~•~

Aragorn was the last of the Fellowship to run into the forest in search of Frodo. Once again the unnerving boy gave a prediction, which he had a sick feeling was true. The ranger prayed that the hobbit was still in possession of the Ring.

After some searching, Aragorn found the dark-haired hobbit sitting on the ground with his back to him.

"Frodo?" he asked as gently as he could. The hobbit jumped.

"He has taken Boromir," Frodo said, with a slightly panicked tone.

_"Oh, no"_ Aragorn thought. This was not good.

"Where is the Ring?" he asked rather forcefully.

Frodo looked terrified. He jumped back, crying:

"Stay away from me!"

_"So Boromir did try to take the Ring and failed. Now Frodo thinks I want it," _he thought.

Aragorn followed the fleeing hobbit. "Frodo," he called. The halfling stopped moving.

"I swore to protect you," _"And I keep my oaths, thank you very much,"_

Frodo had a look of distrust on his face. "Can you protect me from yourself?" he asked.

Aragorn was struck into silence. Frodo opened his hand, revealing the gold band.

"Would you destroy it?" said Frodo.

Aragorn approached the halfling. _"Would I be able to do something my ancestor was unable to do? Or am I as weak as he?" _

As he reached out to the object, he heard the Ring calling to him, promising him great things. But they were falsehoods. Oh what sweet lies they were! No, he could not carry the Ring, and then destroy it. But he could do something else.

Kneeling down to Frodo's height, he folded the halfling's hand closed, gently placing it on the hobbit's chest.

"I will go with you to the end," he whispered. "to the fires of Mordor,"

There was deep sadness in Frodo's eyes. "I know. Look after the others, especially Sam. He will not understand,"

It was then Aragorn realized the extent of the pain Frodo was going through. The Ringbearer planned to go to Mordor alone, to spare the Fellowship of the corruption of the Ring. He could no longer help him. But something caught his eye...

Standing up and drawing his sword caused Frodo to do the same. His blade, Sting, glowed blue.

_"Orcs,"_ he thought. Aragorn could smell them.

He turned to Frodo. "Run," he commanded. When Frodo didn't move, he yelled:

"Run!"

The hobbit finally took off. Aragorn waltzed out to meet the fiends.

_"May you be safe, Frodo," _he thought, before engaging the Uruk-hai in battle.

~•~•~•~

Eldarion jumped through the trees, looking through the forest to find Aragorn. Sure enough, there he was, cutting the Uruk-hai to pieces on the top of Amon Hen. The boy tapped the seal on his red armguards. The shaft of his _Guan Dao _appeared, and he yanked it out of storage. Before he jumped down, Eldarion turned his grey eyes to the eastern shore. Spotting a plume of smoke, he sighed.

"You better not burn down the forest, Obito-san,"

With that, he jumped out with a cry.


	19. Chapter 18

**AN****:**

**You guys/gals spoiled me rotten with reviews, so I nearly held this chapter ransom until I received a few more. But then that little voice told me how stupid that was, so here it is.**

**But Feedback=Inspiriation=Faster Updates.**

**Thank you all!**

**2/14/12**

**Thank you DreamingIn2Eternity for your insightful review. What you said is true, and yes the scene could be portrayed better. But there is a reason for their tardiness and rather convoluted form of communication that will be half explained in Part II, Chapter 1. Rin saw it because she was in a different place than the rest of her team. Thank You for not likeing Aragorn's response. It is totally out of character, and I more or less fixed it with your help. Thank you very much! Happy Valentine's Day!**

_Elvish_

_*Japanese*_

Eldarion felt very foolish as he jumped onto the back of an Uruk-hai, beheading its companions. He could have stayed in the tree and put a genjutsu on them, but no. He _had _to join the fray. The tall boy was jolted out of his inner rant when an Uruk-hai swung its sword at him. He jumped upward, swinging his _Guan Dao _in a downwards slash. The heavy blade cleaved the beast's helmet and skull in two. Landing on a tree branch, he ran through the hand seals for a fire technique. Eldarion's lips twitched with morbid satisfaction as the wounds he inflicted ignited. His grey eyes flicked to Aragorn, who was troubled by several Uruk-hai. While he was sure that the ranger had it under control, Eldarion was not keen on denying the man his assistance. Repositioning himself and his weapon, the shinobi jumped onto the back of another Uruk-hai. Eldarion was pleased to see that the armor offered little resistance to the heavy blade as it scythed through the crowd, severing limbs and heads alike. Stabbing his "mount" with a kunai, the boy jumped off the burning corpse. Eldarion put the polearm to use, whittling away at the fiends surrounding Aragorn. In the midst of his attack, he beheaded an Uruk that was directly in front of the Dúnedain, nearly nicking his nose. Eldarion winced and ground out an apology while blocking an attack. But Aragorn seemed to be more troubled by the purple flames spitting out of the neck wound. The tall man gave Eldarion a look, and then stabbed an Uruk without missing a beat. While killing Saruman's beasts, the shinobi took the opportunity to guard his _Adar's_ back.

"A lot of them, aren't there?" he said as casually as possible, spitting a _senbon_ into a yellow eye. It was not easy to fight back to back with a weapon that was a constant whirlwind. But it kept the Uruk-hai far away.

"You created the fire," Aragorn stated, parrying a sword blow then dispatching the creature.

The _Guan Dao _whistled slightly as he slashed at their black knees.

"More or less. The color changes according to what it is consuming,"

Eldarion could see that most of the Uruk-hai left behind to kill Aragorn were dead. The majority of those still alive were then engaged by the timely arrival of Legolas and Gimli. But then a strangled sound hit his ears. The pale boy didn't even need to turn around to tell that some Uruk was trying to strangle Aragorn. Taking a glance at the man's stance and the fiend, he chewed his lip. Without a second thought, Eldarion shoved the _Guan Dao _between the ranger's legs and hit the Uruk-hai in the groin.

With a shriek of pain, the beast released its grip allowing Aragorn to slit its throat. Stepping over the red shaft, he turned to face Eldarion.

Pale-faced with a nearly non-existent tremor in his voice, he said:

"Be careful when you do something like that,"

The tall boy turned pink, catching his meaning. A loud clearing of the throat caught his attention. He turned to see Gimli standing beside Legolas. Both looked very amused, despite the situation. Eldarion had no idea what to say to them.

"You are fighting very well, Master Dwarf and Master Elf. But we should kill all of these things, just in case," he said, with a forced grin.

Gimli hefted his axe. "Then what are we waiting for?" he asked.

Aragorn gave Eldarion a small smile before the four ran down the hill to engage with the Uruk-hai.

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

"What have we learned today kids?" asked a chipper yellow-haired man.

"That _oni_ are very combustible," chorused Team Minato.

Standing atop an ashy pile of orc remains, Namikaze Minato wiped away a tear of pride from his sky blue eyes.

"I have taught you well," he whispered melodramatically. Rin's cheerful eyes laughed at her sensei's acting. Her male teammates sighed and rolled their eyes.

Fighting the orcs was laughably easy in Minato's mind. Their only strength lay in their numbers, a strength Minato was trained to nullify. Rin had accidently discovered that the _oni _would explode if a chakra current was run through them. The petite brunette was not pleased to have orc guts all over her outfit, but she took it all in stride. Obito and Kakashi went wild with their Jutsu, nearly starting a wildfire due to their recklessness. So it no time at all, any _oni_ in a 15 mile radius was exploded or toast.

"So what now?" asked Kakashi. "We can't go back just yet,"

Rin's eyes suddenly lit up. "We could do the laundry! Or better yet, take a bath! I saw something that looked like a hot spring not half a mile from here,"

Obito snorted. "The _laundry_? Do you even have the laundry?"

Rin gave him a look. "No, but you do,"

Checking his backpack, Obito saw that he did, indeed, have the laundry.

Minato raised his hand. "All in favor of getting clean say 'Aye',"

"Aye,"

"Aye,"

"Aye,"

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

Legolas found that he liked Hoshi's way of fighting very much. The boy was very graceful, almost elf-like. The whirling blade dissuaded many of the Uruk-hai from attacking head-on. Never the less, they were sliced to bits. They kept running down the hill, killing any of the fiends that could. More than once the Mirkwood elf resorted to his long knives to keep the orcs at bay. Aragorn was constantly targeted by the Uruk-hai. At one point he had to shoot one that was strangling the man. Legolas was pleasantly surprised to see the dwarf hold his own. The stranger often fought beside the axe user, bringing their wrath upon the foul creatures. But there were so many of them...

Legolas ducked as something flew over his head. After stabbing out a yellow eyeball then shooting the owner of the eye, he turned to the tree trunk. Hoshi was lying upside down against the tree, with a trickle of blood oozing out of his mouth.

"Hoshi!" yelled Gimli. The child's eyes opened. He blinked a few times then giggled.

"Everything is upside down," he slurred. The boy's weapon had disappeared, as it was no longer beside him. In the distance, Legolas heard the sound of a horn.

Aragorn grabbed Hoshi by the arm and yanked him up.

"Can you see clearly?" he asked, a concerned look on his face.

Hoshi shook his head. "Nothing is in twos and everything is so sharp. Where did the blurriness go?" he answered, snickering. It was clear that the boy was fine.

"This is no time to be goofing off!" he growled. After making eye contact with Gimli and Legolas, the four moved onward. It was clear that Boromir was in trouble.

The boy grabbed his head and inhaled deeply. He stood up shakily then trailed behind them. Aragorn continued to address the injured child.

"I want you to contact your teammates, now," he commanded as they ran along

Hoshi gave the ranger a desperate look. "Across the river and several miles inland? By the time I get there the battle would be over!" he nearly whined.

"You must find a way!" cried Legolas. "We cannot deal with this number!"

The dark-haired boy was silent, then nodded. "Give me a minute,"

Hoshi ran off toward the river, while Boromir still called on his horn.

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

Merry was scared. The number of the orcs coming after them was enormous. Boromir was doing his best to protect them, but there were too many. There was not much he and Pippin could do other than throw rocks and stay out of Boromir's way. Suddenly, the Gondorian man was shot by an oversized arrow. Admirably, he shrugged off the pain and continued fighting. Then somebody else entered the fray.

"Hoshi!" cried Pippin. The human boy was throwing needles into the creatures' eyes, blinding them.

"I cannot stay for long," he stabbed an orc that got too close. "I need to get to the river,"

"Hoshi!" cried Boromir. Despite his exhausted, grim-covered face, he looked delighted to see the boy.

"Boromir, my friend! I would stay longer, but it must get to the river," the child replied in an overly cheery tone, and looked just about ready to leave until the man called out to him again.

"Gondor, will Gondor be safe?" he panted out while blocking several attacks at once.

Merry was confused. He looked up to the Hoshi giving Boromir a watery smile.

"It will thrive far into the Fourth Age," he croaked. "Farewell, Boromir, my friend,"

Just as the boy disappeared into the trees, Boromir was shot with another arrow.

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

Eldarion stumbled to the shore, half blinded by tears.

_"Damn it," _he thought, wiping away the tears with the cleanest part of his sleeve. _"I did not think that it would be this hard,"_

Choking down a sob, he shook his head, grabbing a certain kunai out of his pouch.

_"I must have hit my head really hard to get so emotional,"_

Scowling, he stood up, carefully holding both kunai and tag attached to it. Concentrating, he channeled his chakra into the tag. Immediately after he did so, Eldarion threw the Kunai as far out into the water as possible. He held his breath as it sank below the surface...

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

Rin yelped as she saw half the river go airborne before landing miraculously back into the river bed. Glad that she was already dressed, she ran to find the rest of her team.

"Minato-sensei!" a spiky, yellow head poked out from behind a rock.

"We just finished packing up the laundry, Rin-san," he replied pleasantly. "Is there anything else we need to do?"

"We need to return!" she cried. "Hoshi just gave us one of the signals!"

The jōnin snapped to attention, as did Kakashi. Rin looked around.

"Where is Obito?" she asked.

"Here I am!" cried a voice somewhere behind her. Rin turned around.

"Aiiiyyeee!" she screamed covering her eyes. "Put some clothes on!"

"Sorry!" he said, running over to put on his clothes.

"Hurry up, tardy," Kakashi said to him.

"I know, I know! Jeez,"

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

Eldarion sighed. That should have been enough to grab their attention. He turned his head towards the hill. Sighing heavily, he slowly moved along the water to his destination. Eventually, Eldarion began to recognize the ground; White, round pebbles, and graceful elven boats. This was their mooring. He looked across the water, spotting Frodo and Sam. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered something. Being near the Ring hurt him physically, but he had to do this. Concentrating chakra on his feet, Eldarion ran over to the boat.

"Frodo, Sam!" he called out.

The two hobbits stopped rowing. Frodo gave him a wary look.

"Don't tell me that you plan on coming with us," he said tiredly.

Eldarion shook his head. "Hardly. But there is something I should give you,"

Both Sam and Frodo had their eyes glued to him as he reached into his kunai pouch. Holding out Minato-sensei's _Hiraishin _kunai to Frodo, he said:

"Whenever you are in dire need, or just want to talk to someone, throw this knife and Minato-sensei will appear,"

The Ringbearer cautiously took the weapon. "Thank you, Hoshi,"

Eldarion forced a weak smile and bowed. "Have a safe and pleasant journey to Mordor,"

That brought a smile to both hobbits faces. Eldarion gave their boat a gentle push forward.

As they rowed off to the eastern shore, the tall boy moved back to the west.

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

Aragorn was placing Boromir's body into the boat when Hoshi returned. The boy had gained a haggard look, and there were a couple tear tracks on his dirty face. The child took a look at Boromir's body.

"So he is dead then?"

Hoshi's voice was oddly devoid of emotion. Aragorn reasoned that it had to do with the shinobi's rules on emotion.

"Where are Merry and Pippin?" he asked.

"The orcs took them," responded Legolas. "Where are your teammates?"

Hoshi was about to open his mouth when he heard Obito's voice.

"Hoshi! We got the laundry done!"

The remaining members of the broken Fellowship were struck dumb.

"Laundry," Gimli said quietly, with disbelief etched on his face. "You couldn't come to our aid because you were washing clothes?"

"And ourselves," added Kakashi. "We were all dirty from killing all those _oni_ so we decided to take a bath," he looked over Aragorn and Hoshi. "I would suggest a nice bath for both of you. There is a hot spring two miles from here. Quite pleasant, it would do you both good,"

Aragorn, despite his lack of energy, felt himself begin to shake with rage. Legolas was infuriated as well, but it was Hoshi who snapped.

"Have you no shame? Boromir is dead, Merry and Pippin have been kidnapped and the only good news is the Sam is with Frodo on the way to Mordor!"

A sob left his throat, as his lanky frame began to shake with tears.

Minato walked over to Hoshi and embraced him. Both Obito and Kakashi looked ashamed.

_"Why does everyone I befriend have to die?"_ he croaked.

Rin gave him a hurt look. "Are we not your friends?" she asked.

Hoshi shook his dark head. "No," he whispered. "You are another family, and I would like my family to pay their respects to my friend,"

Minato gave the grieving boy a pat on the head and walked over to Boromir's body.

"Boromir was an honorable man. He fought bravely and was loyal to his country to the end. I am proud to have fought alongside him,"

Aragorn was confused on why they were making speeches until Hoshi explained it to him.

"It is a custom in Konoha to speak about the fond memories one has of the dead at the funeral," he whispered, his voice cracking.

Kakashi stepped forward. "Boromir was a courageous man who never shirked his duty. He did what he had to do to protect his people. Rest in peace, Boromir-sama,"

Rin approached the boat next. "Boromir was a kind and strong individual. While I might not have known him for long, I respect him for who he is, a true servant of his country,"

Obito inhaled deeply. "Boromir was a great man. He never called me stupid and always laughed at my jokes. He was an awesome fighter and a fair person. I wish him happiness beyond the grave,"

All four shinobi except Hoshi were standing by Boromir. On unsteady legs, Hoshi walked up to the boat.

"Lord Boromir, you taught me to hold a sword correctly. With unending patience you allowed me to hack away at your shield with sword or my blades. Your love for your city showed in your words and actions. I admire your courage and devotion to your people. I wish that I could have thanked you before this, Boromir. You were a dear mentor and beloved friend,"

After a moment of silence, Aragorn pushed to boat bearing the body of Boromir into the current, where the water would take it over the waterfall.

The quiet was then broken by a certain yellow-haired shinobi.

"So I understand that we have some hobbits to rescue?" he asked

†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†(/-\)†

**End of Part I**


	20. A Notice

**It has come to my attention that I neglected to inform most of the readers that I continued this tale in a sequel story. So here in the notice, _Those Who Wander are Quite Lost _is continued in a Part II. So if you are interested to read more of this story, It is up.**

**I will not be updating this story except for minor error changes, but that is unlikely to occur until I finish with the entire story. **

**So Thank You FireheartNinja for the notice and everyone who has read part one.**

**I hope to see you in Part II!**

**Fondly,**

**Pipkin in the Grass.**


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